#(thank you talia for getting me an education)

[timbourinedrake]

Finally posting the Talia focused animatic I have been working on, because I don't know when I'll get time to finish it and I like it too much to let it rot in my folder.

This is based on the events of Batman: Son of the Demon and the song is Wife by Mitski

I have a whole lot of thoughts on how this song reflects Talia's treatment as a character both within comics and outside of them, and how she is always treated as the mother/daughter/love interest rather than an individual in her own right. These roles are important to her but she is also more than them, she is her own person. I think it's super interesting to look at how Talia would wrestle with balancing these roles whilst also not letting them be her own defining trait.

[stormz369]

☕💖 Can I Get Your Number? ☕💖 Ch 29

Jason Todd x (f)Chubby!Reader

written with a female reader in mind, first person pov, no use of Y/N, NSFW, MDNI, let me know if there's anything else I should tag this with!

warnings/labels: poor parenting discussed, Talia may or may not be ooc (if she is, fear not! I have received 2 separate permits, and have been told I may do as I please!), mild cussing, fluff, angst, a smidge of fear

wc: 2.4k

Chapter Selection

“... Babe, I know you've described Damian's mom as a ‘real piece of work', and Bruce told me a bit about how she raised him before he came here, so I do know she's not what I would consider a good mom. But that doesn’t explain why her visiting means we can't go to the manor?”

Jason sighed, setting his phone aside. He cupped my cheeks, purring my name; “darling, light of my life. I mean this in the best possible way. … You cannot be trusted to keep your cool with her.”

I blinked several times, frowning; “what on earth does that mean?!”

“You are … passionate. You love fiercely, and I love that about you. Seriously, I don't want you to think this is a bad thing; the way you love us makes me feel so safe, and I know Damian agrees. But … you've already yelled at one of his teachers, his principal, and Bruce. You will not be able to hold your tongue with Talia. And holding our tongues is necessary with her. … If she believes living at Wayne Manor is making Damian weak, she will take him away 'for his own good’.”

“How on earth would I make her think he's weak?”

“Talia is the type of person who believes attachment makes us weak. The things we care about can be used against us, the people we love are the people who will hurt us the worst. She believes it's better to be feared than loved. She's why he's so good at masking his feelings. Why he doesn't always understand his own feelings; his early education did not include processing and recognizing emotions. But she's … incredibly astute. She's analytical, and brilliant, and terrifying, and … she's his mother; she taught him everything he knew before he came here, and now she can read him without trying, even when he tries to hide his feelings from her. So if she sees how you two are around each other, even if neither of you so much as acknowledge each other, she'll know how you feel about him, and how he feels about you, and we'll probably never see him again.”

I growled softly, clenching my jaw. “… Bitch…”

He chuckled softly, holding me close. “I know. Which is why we have to keep our distance. … She doesn't visit often, and when she does she never stays long. She'll probably be here for a week at most, stalking the kid to make sure he's not slipping, and once she's gone I’m certain he'll show up on our doorstep.”

I sighed softly. “... Ok. … If you see him between now and then you have to find a way to tell him that I’m missing him and I love him very much, ok?”

He groaned softly. “Aw, come on, babe. The Red Hood can't lean in to give Robin a hug during patrol!”

“I'm not asking you to hug him - don't hug him! Just make sure he knows that I'm thinking about him. Please?” I pouted, snuggling against his chest; “for me?”

“Ughhhhh …. Fine. For you.” He sighed, running his fingers down my spine.

I grinned, snuggling against him happily. “Thank you~”

“Yeah, yeah …” he chuckled, kissing my temple. We sat on the floor, curled against each other, for a long while before Jason finally moved us to the bed to get some sleep.

Jay quickly started moving his things into my place. I gave him my spare key and made space in the closet. When I got home from the next girls night some of his clothes were hung up next to mine. The next day there was one of those cheap plastic dressers next to my nice wood one, and sitting on top of it was Jason's cologne, a book, and his deodorant. His shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel joined mine on the side of the tub. We bought more towels and a new set of sheets.

All these little changes made me giddy; his things slotting into position next to mine just felt so right, and I would get used to the weapons that were suddenly stashed all over the apartment. We had a thorough gun-safety presentation that night, and he showed me where everything was. On the next gym-and-range day, we finished training with an exercise where he would, entirely at random, shout “intruder” and time how long it took me to have a weapon trained on him. My best time was two seconds; he had expected me to go for the gun in the drawer, not the knife block in front of me on the counter.

Soon I started packing Jason a lunch for patrol. Mostly because I wanted to take care of him in some way, but a part of me also hoped he'd run into Damian out there and share the cookies I made. He rolled his eyes at me the first time I pressed the insulated bag into his hands, but accepted it anyway. I sent him off with a kiss and a wave, and settled in to wait for him to come home. Hours later I fell asleep on the couch, and when I woke up it was 4:30am and he was unlocking the door. The exhaustion rolled off him as I pulled him into a tight hug, and we collapsed into bed. When I woke up for real around 11 the lunch bag was sitting on the kitchen counter, empty and clean. I grinned, filling it again that night, and Jason didn't offer so much as a token resistance before taking it.

A week and a half passed before he ran into Robin on patrol. Jason assured me that he had passed along my message, Damian was perfectly healthy and definitely missed me too, and he had even been forced to share the brownies I'd packed. I beamed, kissing his cheek in thanks, and we curled up in bed.

The next day, we started looking at houses online. We obviously only looked at what was available in Red Hood's territory; on top of him wanting to stay close to his patrol area, it was on the opposite side of Gotham from the well manicured lawns of Bruce's gated neighborhood and thus the perfect place to set up my clinic. Whether our home or the cave was closer, the bats would never be more than 30 minutes away from medical care. Jason took note of a few addresses he wanted to go check out, promising to swing by during patrol to see if they were securable.

“No reason to arrange a showing if I'm not gonna be able to make it safe for you.” He kissed my forehead, wrapping an arm around my waist. I chuckled softly, leaning against him. I was pretty sure he was the one who would need the most security measures to feel safe in our new home, but I wasn't going to argue. The way he lit up when providing for me was too precious a sight; if I complimented his cooking he turned pink and mumbled it was nothing. I thanked him for switching over the laundry and he sighed happily, nodding. When he saw progress in my training he beamed. And when he came home safe in the early hours of the morning, all anxiety and stress melted off of him the second he was in my arms.

In a lot of ways, life was starting to feel incredibly normal. We were like the picturesque 1950’s family I'd been taught to simultaneously idealize and vilify; until the spring semester at GU started I was free to spend my time how I pleased, and with Damian's mother still in town, that mostly meant finding new ways to feel like I was giving Jason as much as he gave me. I made sure he always had enough treats in his lunches, in case Damian was out too. When Jason returned from patrol I inspected him for any small wounds my first aid knowledge would fix. I doted on him every chance I got, and he doted right back. It was wonderful, truly.

But when he left for work, and I was alone with my thoughts, the stillness in the apartment quickly became overwhelming. At first Damian's sudden absence from my life had been annoying but acceptable. But after the first couple days it started to feel like a rabid dog was using my heart as a chew toy. Why was his mother still here? What was she doing? What was she saying to him? He had been making such incredible progress; he smiled more, he initiated hugs, he accepted them more readily. He was painstakingly tearing down the walls around his feelings brick by brick. It was a difficult process, and he was being so brave, I couldn’t be prouder! But what was she doing to those walls while I was kept away?

It had been two weeks, and I was starting to wonder if she planned to stay for the holidays. I didn't want her to stay for the holidays! I had plans, and I couldn't do my plans if I couldn't go to the manor! Being barred from Wayne Manor meant no Damian, but it also meant no Steph, no Dick, no Tim, none of them! We had decided it would be best if it looked like I was just Jason's girlfriend; as far as Talia knew he was indifferent to the family, if that. So I had to appear indifferent at best as well.

I was still able to go to girls' night, because that was being held at Barbara's home. There was no reason to believe Talia would know or care about that. But I missed training with everyone. I missed finding new ways to tease Tim. I missed Dick's good natured laugh. God help me, I even missed Bruce! He pissed me off, but he was still kind to me for the most part, and he was a good trainer. I wanted things to get better with him, for Jason and Damian's sake. I wanted him to be the dad they deserved, the dad Dick believed he wanted to be. I was pretty sure he had it locked away inside him, he just needed … something. What exactly that was, I wasn't sure; maybe to see how happy Damian was with simple childhood experiences? Or to see the peace on Jason's face when we cooked together. Or maybe he needed to experience some of that for himself. But whatever he needed, I was sure he wasn't getting it, and until Talia al Ghul left I wouldn't find out.

I tried to busy myself with crafting and baking. With the winter holidays on the horizon I really should have started on presents around Halloween, especially considering how many people I was making gifts for this year. But better late than never, so I used the time alone to get started. Jason would be gone for hours, I had plenty of time. Or, I would have if not for the knock at the door.

I jumped, looking up incredulously. I wasn't expecting guests, especially this late at night. Anyone I wanted here had my phone number, and no one had called or texted. I grabbed my phone, just to be sure, but I was right - no unread texts, no missed calls. A moment later there was another knock, this one more insistent.

I grabbed one of Jason's guns and my phone, ready to call him with the push of a button, and looked through the peephole. A beautiful woman was standing at the door, an unamused look on her face. Her clothes were too elegant for this neighborhood, she definitely didn't just wander to the wrong door. I sighed, a sinking sensation in my gut as I cracked the door open just enough to reveal my face.

“... Hello?” I frowned.

She raised an eyebrow; “... is hospitality well and truly dead in this country, or are you going to invite me in?”

“At eleven o'clock at night, in this neighborhood, with an uninvited stranger on the doorstep? It’s dead. Now, would you like to introduce yourself, or should I shut the door?”

She tsked; “I am Talia al Ghul. Why have you been spending time with my son?”

I silently cursed, but forced my expression to remain bored and distrusting; “... Your son?”

“Damian …” she sighed, “I believe he's using his father's last name now, Wayne.”

“Oh, Jason's brother? He's not here.”

“Obviously not.” She snapped; “are you going to let me in?”

“Why? He's not here.”

“I know he's not here! I want to know why you've been spending so much time with him.”

“I dunno about ‘much’. I've met him.”

“You are his emergency contact at that paltry excuse for a school he is enrolled at.”

“Oh, is that what you're so upset about?” I shrugged; “'m just doing a favor for Jay by doing a favor for his dad.”

“... Elaborate.”

“Mr. Wayne is a busy man, I am not a terribly busy woman. Emergency contact at the school was a simple enough thing to take off his plate. Kinda thing that seems bigger than it actually is. He now associates me with his life being ever so slightly easier. He already associates me with Jason, ergo he now associates Jason with his life being slightly easier.”

She frowned deeply. “You are emotionally manipulating Bruce into … what, being kinder to his second son?”

“... I suppose so, yeah. Didn't really think about it that way. 'Manipulation' makes it sound so much more convoluted and … effort-full. All I did was sign a piece of paper.”

Her expression morphed into a small smirk; a very Damian-like expression. “... And you are Jason's … girlfriend?”

“Yep.”

“... Hm.” She nodded once. “... Very well then.”

“... Okaaay. … So are you like, sticking around or somethin'? Do you want to be the emergency contact now?”

“No, there is no reason for that…” she pursed her lips; “establishment to have my phone number.”

I shrugged again. “Alright… Anything else?”

“... No, I suppose not.”

“Kay. I'm goin' back to bed then. Goodbye.” I shut the door, locking it, and looked through the peephole again. She glowered at my door, seemingly considering something, and finally left.

I watched her walk away until she was entirely out of sight, then slowly retreated to the couch to text Jay.

Me: Everything is fine, do not panic; but I just met Talia. 11:20pm

Jason: I'm coming home. Don't open the door to anyone. 11:35pm

Me: 👍❤️ 11:36pm

Next ->

Divider by: @saradika-graphics

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[bats-and-birds-24]

Chapter 11:

Tim silently wept, as Talia took him to his room. He knew that Jason had no reason to like him, but to think that he hated Batman and didn’t want him to be Robin at all broke him. In his mind’s eye, he could still see Jason’s face simmering with rage. In that moment, he looked nothing at all like the blazingly energetic kid Tim used to idolize.

Talia steered him to the bed and pulled up a chair next to him. 

In between his quiet sobs, all he could get out was, “Why did he get so mad?”

Talia collected herself and began to explain, "That is complicated child, it is a mix of many separate factors, such as the pit rage, an after effect of his resurrection, and then there are Jason’s own unresolved feelings on being Robin.”

As Tim’s tears began to dry and frustration faded, his curiosity was roused, “Are you saying that Jason didn’t want to be Robin?”

“Not quite,” Talia scooted closer to him, “He loved being Robin, but he also loved just having a roof over his head, food on the table, and access to an education. The fact that he was able to help others in his situation was just an added benefit. He was Bruce’s son first, and Robin second.”

As Tim took in the information, he asked, “So that’s why he thinks Bruce used him. He assumed Bruce would treat him like his son, but after he died, he thought he was just Robin to him, a tool.”

Talia smiled, Tim was quick on the uptake, she could see why Bruce chose him to be the next Robin. “Bruce is brilliant, stubborn, skilled, and desperately wants to do good in the world. For all his strengths,  he was never good at understanding people. He just saw that being Robin helped Richard, and assumed that it would do the same for Jason, despite their different temperaments and needs.”

Tim could hardly believe what he was hearing, “Are you saying that Jason shouldn’t have been Robin?” Jason suited the role of Robin perfectly, however, his mind supplied, maybe the role didn’t suit him.

Talia continued, “No, Jason was fated to be Robin. The problem arises from the fact that Bruce treated Jason’s Robin the same way he treated Dick’s Robin. He knew that he would never replace John Grayson in Dick’s life, and treated him as such, but for Jason, both Bruce and Batman were his father. It’s why Dick wouldn’t have been tricked by Sheila, not because he was a better Robin, but because his parents death had shattered his trust in adults. It took Bruce a long time to rebuild that trust, to help him heal, he would have left Sheila in some other capable hands and left at the first sign of trouble. Jason’s faith in humanity was restored when he was taken in by Bruce, so he had no reason to trust that his own so-called ‘mother’ would sell him out to the Joker. Jason’s trust was destroyed after he was brought back from his death.”

Tim nodded mutely. It made perfect sense, Dick saw Robin as a way to get back the crime that had caused the loss of his parents, much like Bruce did, Jason saw Robin as a way to free people from crime. If only Bruce had understood this!

Talia stood up, “Young detective, I’ll be taking my leaving now, I hope you understand where Jason is coming from.”

Tim followed her lead and stood up as well, “Yes, of course, but, could you do me a favor? Can you please tell Jason that I didn’t mean to upset him?” He glanced up at Talia, pleading silently.

She quirked a smile, “I think Jason already knows that, but I’ll make sure to reiterate it.”

Tim gave her a faint smile as she left the room, “Thank You.”

Jason winced at the memory of  meeting Tim for the first time. He looked so excited and hopeful, he had idolized him. All that was crushed because of Jason’s jealousy and spite. Despite this, he still believed that he was right, Bruce was just using the kid to be Robin, and once he’s killed, or broken in some way, he’ll just cast him aside to get a newer model. A part of him bitterly thinks that this must be how Dick felt when he became Robin.

He was wallowing in his emotions when he heard a knock at the door. He already had a feeling as to who it was. 

Talia’s smile from her conversation with Tim vanished when she saw Jason’s state. His eyes were red and puffy, tear tracks were visible on his face and his lips were pressed into a thin line.

“Come here habibi.” She pulled Jason close to him. She could feel Jason whisper into her shoulder, “Why didn’t he learn anything?”

Talia pulls them apart, “Oh, child, but he did change.” Jason gave her a choked laugh, “From what I’ve heard, not for the better.” 

She sighed, “That’s true, but to clarify some of your previous doubts, Bruce didn’t manipulate Tim into becoming Robin. He did that on his own.”

Jason frowned at that, “You can’t be serious, I have my fair share of issues with B, but Tim couldn’t have stayed under the radar from him. Especially not if Tim was telling the truth about following us around since he was a child.”

She sat down on a nearby ottoman and began to explain, “That’s what I thought as well, until I began to do my own research. Tim was only ever caught by Bruce once, and following the event, there was a gap of two months where he stopped following you two. When he started stalking you again, he wasn’t caught. I believe that this is because he used his time off to study Bruce’s patterns of observation and used it to stay off his radar.”

Jason was shocked speechless when he heard that. An ugly, pit tainted part of him sneered, “It seems that even at your best, he was still better than you.” As his thoughts swirled in his mind, there was nothing but silence.

Talia got up and prepared to leave when she heard Jason’s shaky voice, “Talia, can, can you tell Tim that I’m sorry for lashing out at him? I,I didn’t mean to…” he trailed off.

A gentle smile graced Talia’s face, “I’ll be sure to pass the message onto him.”

Jason muttered a thanks and laid back down, trying to push away the green seeping into his vision. He was so, so tired.

[snapdragonsimming]

Author's Note and Transcript Under the Cut

(AN: Hello! Thank you for stopping by and checking out my fledgling fundie simblr. I’m by no means new to simblr, but because this blog and story is new, I figure an introduction is due.

So: hey, I’m Talia! I had another fundie simblr a few years back (it’s now inactive for a multitude of reasons), but like a certain someone, I have risen again! My fundie sims obsession was reignited over the summer after I joined a wonderful fundie sims-themed Discord server. Somehow they convinced me to make a new blog, and a few months later, here we are! In the intervening years I continued to lurk, so if you’re an active fundie simblr, I’m probably a fan of your story.

I’ve been playing the de la Cruz family for a while now and they have a special place in my heart- I can’t wait to share them with everyone else! Get ready for lots of God-honoring drama, mildly dubious baby names, and leopard-print modesty undershirts. Note that as the de la Cruzes are fundamentalists and this story is satire-heavy, there will be some viewpoints expressed that I very much disagree with. I’ll trigger tag certain sensitive subjects (e.g. physical violence, miscarriages) as ‘tw [thing]’ but fundie-typical bullshit will go untagged for the sake of my sanity.

Some basic housekeeping stuff to wrap up this far-too-long intro note: I have a queue full of posts ready to go, but I’m a busy student with unpleasant things like homework and AP classes, so I’m still not sure how frequently I’ll post. I’ll do my best to ensure that stays consistent, though, and if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to reach out via my askbox or DMs!)

-

PRAISING HIM!

Every Sunday, Praising Him! features a family dedicated to spreading the Word. Today we meet the de la Cruzes, a San Sequoian family of 16.

When Alejandro and Alina (née Fletcher) de la Cruz married at nineteen, they could not have imagined what would come next! Over the past twenty-six years, the couple has made faith the centerpiece of their lives, and has continued to “Praise Him!” through the ups and downs of busy family life.

Read more about their family below!

-

Alejandro, 45, works as a programmer at United Christian Publishers, and holds a Distinguished Degree in Computer Science from Foxbury Christian University. He began his journey into higher education not at 18, like many students, but at 26, shortly after the birth of his seventhborn, Cecilia! Owing to his unique circumstances, he chose to enroll in a six-year program that enabled him to work full-time as a freelance programmer in addition to his courseload. Though money was tight at times, the Lord provided, and Alejandro welcomed five bundles of joy (including a darling set of twins!) with wife Alina while enrolled at Foxbury. Whew!

Alina, 45, has chosen to fulfill God’s design for women by staying at home with her family. Raised in a devout household, she always knew He was calling her toward marriage and motherhood, and she says the “greatest blessing” in her life was the day she gave birth to her eldest son Gabriel, ten months after her wedding day and just shy of her twentieth birthday. In addition to raising and homeschooling the seven de la Cruz children who have yet to graduate, Alina is active in her church and in Institute for Strong Christian Standards (ISCS) circles, and enjoys spending time with her four (soon to be five!) beautiful grandbabies. A true Proverbs 31 woman if we’ve ever seen one!

You may recognize Gabriel de la Cruz and his lovely wife Esther, 23, from last summer’s print edition of Praising Him! At just 25, Gabriel is a rising star in the Christian legal world, coming to the aid of innocent Simericans simply trying to practice their faith. Ten months ago, they welcomed their first little girl, Abigail, and just last week they announced the upcoming arrival of their second child! Congratulations to them.

-

Althea Brown (née de la Cruz), 24, is following in her mother’s footsteps and proud of it! The young woman, who wed husband John-David, 28, three years ago, resides in Newcrest and is a content stay-at-home-mother of two.

Jasmine Booth (née de la Cruz), 23, known to friends and family as “Jazzy,” is enjoying the bliss of new parenthood alongside her husband of two years, Jason!

The first set of de la Cruz twins, Joshua and Sofia, 21, are both unattached and living at home. Sofia is pursuing a calling in missionary work, and Joshua is hard at work saving money and praying for his future family. “If you’re reading this as a young Christian woman,” Sofia jests, “have your father write into Praising Him! and I’ll set up a date with Josh!”

Caterina de la Cruz, 20, is diligently knitting, crocheting, sewing, embroidering, and cross-stitching her way through her season of singleness! Though she prays every day for her Prince Charming (nonbelievers need not apply!), she assures Praising Him! that she’s quite content to assist her mother in running the busy de la Cruz household in the interim.

Cecilia de la Cruz, 18, the only unmarried de la Cruz not living at home, declined to comment.

The rest of the de la Cruz children, who range in age from 8 to 17, are kept busy with homeschooling, ISCS conferences, music practice, and Bible study.

If you would like to get in touch with the de la Cruz family, click here to send a message!

[lily-drake]

The Demon’s Queen

Chapter Thirteen

First <> Previous

Marinette’s skin was buzzing, but for once it wasn’t in a bad way that was caused by poisons or getting her butt handed to her, though she was now lasting longer and longer on the mats.  No, it was something almost warm and inviting.  She had not been expecting Talia to have been so…understanding.  It was a welcoming difference, just not one she had been expecting.  

“Marinette.”  Talia began, her voice warm and sweet as honey.  “Follow me, I would like to see how well you have been able to keep up on your education studies.”  Marinette perked up at that, quickly following after the older woman.  While the boy had placed her in classes such as: War Strategy, Arabic lessons, and different “fundamental” type classes, she was sure that Talia would allow her to study something else.  

“Marinette, you are a healer.  Though my son understands the importance of this role, he does not fully recognize what it means to you.  You held the Ladybug Miraculous as another part of you for many years, so much so that I have seen the subtle hints of your power coursing through your blood when you battle.  However, you were also blessed by the Miraculous of Destruction as the Guardian of the box.”

“Why does that matter now?  Without my Miraculous I can’t use my magic.”  Marinette asked, pain hidden behind her stoic facade.

“And that my dear, is where you’re wrong.  You are the guardian, you do not need to hold the Miraculi in or hand to weild it’s power.”  Talia explained as she opened the doors to a large library she had never seen before.  “As you were exposed most to the powers of creation, your gifts will lie first and foremost in that of creation and healing rather than death and destruction.  And I assure you, that is not something that should be frowned upon in this line of work.”  

They walked past large shelves filled to the brim with scrolls and ancient tomes until they stopped in front of a shelf in one of the farthest corners of the library.  From the top of the shelf she polled out an ancient tome with no markings on it firm leather cover that could hint at what it was about, but Talia seemed to know what it was anyway.  “This, is my father’s research on past holders and the powers that they maintained long after use and loss of the Miraculi.  I think that you will find the information located in this book rather insightful.”  Marinette took the book, holding the ancient thing carefully as she hugged it close to her chest, as if that action alone would keep it safe.  Talia gave her a warm smile, and gently patted her head, ignoring the way Marinette ever so slightly leaned into the touch.

Marinette stared up at Talia, her blue eyes still unable to hide the questions and curiosity she tried to hide.  Though it was obvious that Marinette wanted to ask her something, she stayed silent.  Talia didn’t say anything either, waiting to see if the young woman would break or if she would hold herself back.

“Thank you Ma’am.  I will study this carefully.”  There it was.  Talia simply gave a light dip if her head before turning and escorting Marinette out of the room.  Talia watched as the young girl turned down the hall towards her quarters, and smiled.  Marinette’s steps barely made a sound.

__________

“What do you mean you can not take the box back?”  Damian seethed as he glared down at the three Guardians before him.  “Is it not your original responsibility to obtain and keep these jewels safe from others?”

“It is Demon’s Head, however the box no longer belongs specifically to me.”  Grand Guardian Su-Han stated calmly.

“Do you truly expect me to believe that you have no way to remove your curse from another yourselves?”  Damian demanded, leaning back against his throne.

“Not unless you wish for her memories to be completely erased.”  Damian kept his face passive though he was burning on the inside.  How was it that the only options here were for his protégé to either keep their curse or lose their memory of everything to be set free?!  While it was true Marinette losing her memory would make molding her far easier, he did not wish for her to lose what made her great; her intimate knowledge of battle and unwavering need to become better—even if the need was driven on an attempt to escape.

“If you can not fulfill this properly then I wish for you to renounce Marinette from belonging to your Order.  She belongs to The League of Assassins now and no one else.”  The guardians shared a look amongst the others before staring back at The Demon’s Head.  They did not want to give up one of their own, but if Damian was anything like Ra’s al Ghul, he would not hesitate to attack their temple.  If they had more time, they would be able to defend themselves from such an attack, but they were still recovering from their sudden return and thus were too weak.

“If we let you have the young Guardian, will you promise not to harm our sacred temple while we rebuild ourselves?”  

“Tt.  I am not as cowardice as to attack while you are defenseless without cause.  And I have no cause.”  Damian replied flippantly.

“Very well.  I, Grand Guardian Su-Han, relinquish my pupil Guardian Marinette Dupain-Cheng to her new mentor, The Demon’s Head, Damian al Ghul.”  There was an invisible power that hung in the air around them, swift and strong.  Nothing big happened, there was no light show, no gusts of wind, no strings of fate.  Yet, it was magically binding all the same.

“Your presence here is no longer required.  You will be allowed to safely travel back to your temple.  Now leave.”  Damian may not have been able to rid himself of the cursed box, but he no longer had to worry about The Order of the Miraculous trying to retrieve her.  He knew the power given over him didn’t do anything, it gave him no power, it was simply a promise that they would not interfere.  But it filled its purpose nonetheless.  

Damian watched the guardians bow before swiftly leaving the throne room in one smooth motion.  Once he was alone Damian slowly stood from his throne and walked back to his quarters.  

“Looks like your attempt to get rid of us didn’t work out too well, huh Kit.”  Plagg laughed as he flew into Damian’s hair as soon as his door shut.

“Poor Dami.”  Trixx mocked from the bookshelf.

“I normally like rich and powerful men”, Kaalki began, “but you are the one exception.”

Damian sighed in annoyance.  How Marinette handled the childish beings was beyond him.  Plagg laughed, rolling around his hair like a normal cat would do with catnip.  He watched from the corner of his eye as Tikki sat atop the doorframe, glaring down at him with hatefilled eyes.  She didn’t say anything, she didn’t need to.  Damian knew what she thought of him, and he knew that that opinion would not be changing anytime soon, Damian didn’t care.  

With one last sigh, Damian got ready for bed.  He had promised his mother that he’d take Marinette out to the village tomorrow, he’d need to be prepared in case she tried to run off.  And he had no doubt that she would try.

Next

Taglist:

@sinoffalsejudgement @peachmuses @myazael @snnoww26 @dur55 @tip-tap-tired @ledalasombra @jennifer-rose123 @kylamai @plz-excuse-my-inner-gay @stella17luna @meduarts @toodaloo-kangaroo @valeks-star @crazylittlemunchkin @achaoticmess1 @queenz-z @doll246 @aespades @liquid-luck-00 @a-slytherinish-gryffindor @demigraceling-blog @kashlyn @castle-bookworms-world @a-classic-bookworm @wheredoesonegetnameideas @ascetic-orange @night-ngale @0anodite0 @strawberryfire17 @laurcad123 @firestorm0316 @aksartisticlife 

[oceanautismrosenberg]

> Motion Carried, Democracy Rocks! - Personal Blog Introduction

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˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ Luz / Spacey ! — she / they / it — ESP & ENG ˎˊ˗

・┈ ✦﹕age : 14 — MINOR!! — argentinian (hispanic-latina)

⤷　　✙　　demigirl lesbian — autistic, PTSD, anxiety, possible adhd . . please be patient !!

────୨ৎ────

﹒⟡﹒; MAIN INTEREST ON RIDE THE CYCLONE, LEGOLAND AND HELLO NEIGHBOR SAGA ! — Programmer, gamer, writer, videogame developer (dream job for adulthood! <3), theater kid (actress and singer.. not really a dancer i suck at that lol), artist and other hobbies I usually forget I have and then I hyperfixate on them for 3 days until I forget them again.

「☆」⸝⸝➜ Yumeshipping, fangirling (I'm her #1 fan trust), obsessing and basically in love /hyp with Ocean O'Connell Rosenberg, The Most Successful Girl in Town! (I acknowledge and do not justify/support her problematic behaviors through the play)

「★」⸝⸝➜ RTC fav ships: Blackrose/Perfectcloud (Ocean x Constance... mostly after canon or after ocean's character development though) - Perfectdolls (Ocean x Jane Doe/Penny Lamb) - Spacerap (Ricky x Mischa) - Mischalia (Mischa x Talia) - mostly platonic (but can enjoy romantic) Spacedolls (Ricky x Jane Doe/Penny Lamb)

「☆」⸝⸝➜ Other fandoms I'm in: Omori, DDLC, Heathers, FNAF, Baldi's Basics In Education and Learning (that's meee!! /q), The Sims, Disventure Camp (quite off tho), Splatoon, Gravity Falls, The Owl House.

「★」⸝⸝➜﹒* DNI : basic dni criteria (racist, homophobes, zionists, ableist, xenophobes, fatphobes, etc), pedophiles (loli/shotacon included), comshippers, OCEAN O'CONNELL ROSENBERG HATERS (/HJ), gore enjoyers, etc.

「☆」⸝⸝➜ Because of my country's financial situation and because I'm a minor without chances of getting my own money, I cannot donate to any funds, even if I would love to. Please do not DM me or message me by my inbox for donations/help. I want to clarify that this applies for everyone, sadly it is really overwhelming to receive this messages day by day; I'm neurodivergent and suffer from post-traumatic disorder, which makes me extremely paranoid and I just can't stand it. I'm also a small account, I have very low interactions/notes and because of that my spreading couldn't reach a lot of people. Even then, I want to be clear with the fact that I support every situation out there: war, injury, sickness, poverty; but I simply can't deal with it, it's a boundary and I will gently ask you to respect it. I'm completely sorry if I can't help you, but I suggest you to find help with someone that actually can do something (PS: if I worded this wrong I'm sorry too, if you would want to request a change of wording or suggest how I could say this properly I would be completely thankful! I want to respect everyone in this blog, even if I can't help with donations.) || Daily clicks : https://arab.org/click-to-help/

「☆」⸝⸝➜ You can find more information about me and other social media of mine [here]!

[lilslilword]

A little scared to post this, but it has been sitting in my draft for years. Okay, so I am not used to doing fanfiction and I’m awfully embarrassed by it, but here it is— fanfiction of First Kill but with an age progression so the main characters are well into college almost Grad School, the families know about the relationships and are more than cordial. Any other details that would make this problematic, let’s assume have been solved. This is about the characters and their relationship and has nothing to do with the actual people/actors that portray them. Hope you enjoy!

Warnings: Mentions of blood, sex, periods, sex on periods possibly, pain, etc…

so Part 1 I guess.

“Good Morning gorgeous.”

I walked into the kitchen to be greeted by the smell of waffles, eggs, and bacon and my girlfriend, leaning over the counter sipping blood out of a Starbucks cup.

“Hi, thanks for making me breakfast.”

I come around and kiss her gently on the cheek which makes her give off a sad whine.

“You know our rule. You have to brush your teeth first.” I smirk knowing that the rule is in play just so I can get her to make her little, cute sad face.

Juliette looked at me laughing before pulling me in for a kiss. It was equal parts rough and gentle and it made me want to pick her up and take her back to bed right now. But forever being the responsible one, she wouldn’t let me as she broke off the kiss and pointed towards the food.

“No, you need to eat food first and we have classes today.”

“Get out of my head ma’am.” I yelled with mock offense, but if she stays in there then she will see some things.

Still, knowing that she was right I picked up my fork and started on my food. Not actually upset by the bloody kiss which actually made me want her more. It’s weird, like, who’s the vampire anyways?

Juliette looked me up and down, shaking her head as our eyes met.

“If it wasn’t your mind, then it’s going to be your face. So either way I know exactly what you are thinking and speaking of, please stop thinking of fucking me during your classes or giving me fuck me eyes while we are in class! We’re in college to learn, not to rip each other’s clothes off. Ooh, if only Ms. Talia knew what you were up to!”

My head shot up from the plate after she said something about my Mom.

“I know you wouldn’t.” I gave her a glare looking deep into her soul.

“I know my Mom is accepting, but chill out with that Jules.” I tried to find something else to say, but couldn’t give the same threat as Mrs. Fairmount would be overjoyed at her child showing any form of aggression. She often jokes that I might be more of a vampire seeing that Jules loves to heal her hickies slowly because she loves looking at the marks.

She gave me those cold blue eyes and I tried not to show how bothered I was by her statement, knowing that my Mom, if not big on monster hunting, has always been huge on education. Also, that reminded me that I needed to call her, see where the fam is right now and tell them to stop sending Tess to look after me. Last time we had to help her clumsy, drunk ass out of the bushes of a nearby sorority house.

I rolled my eyes taking another bite of this waffle. If you didn’t want to get fucked then stop looking so good all the time.

“You always think I look good, I could be wearing anything and you’d want to fuck me, but anyways, your period is about to start. So I’m going to go because you become a horny demon at first and then a sweet baby, like a Sour Patch kid.” Juliette smirked looking at me from her cup before adding, “and smelling your blood has…actually I don’t want to talk about it.”

Hmm, no matter how beautiful she’s grown to be, she’s still that shy girl that I met in high school and when she blushes it is the cutest thing.

“Babe, can you try to stay with me this time? I know you can’t resist me, but I need you here. You always leave, and the gifts, food, etc that you send me are nice, but it doesn’t beat having my girlfriend here with me.”

I walked around the counter, putting my dishes in the sink before coming to hug her from behind while kissing on her neck.

“Please.” I turn her around, giving her my best puppy dog eyes.

“Okay, okay, but I need you to put a pad on and take this medicine right now. I guess you’re going to see why I leave.”

She sighed while giving me a soft smile before going with me to get dressed.

About an hour, a shower, teeth brushing, getting fully dressed, and one attitude later.

“So you couldn’t tell me that I started when we were in the kitchen?” I yelled from behind her.

She was checking herself in the mirror and getting the keys when she chuckled and gave me a wicked little grin. “I’m sorry baby, I tried to hint at it and if I would’ve told you outright then you wouldn’t have eaten your breakfast.”

She pulled me in, kissing me on the cheek while pulling us both closer to the door.

“You have medicine and water in your bag, but I also packed some extra for you in mine. If it becomes too painful we’re leaving and either going to the hospital or coming back home okay?”

I kept walking, not really paying too much attention to what was going on and why this was so serious. She stopped walking and held my face gently, concern evident as she looked me in the eyes.

“If it gets too painful, we are leaving.” She repeated.

“Okay, but I can tolerate the pain. This isn’t anything new to me.”

She shook her head agreeing with me. “I know…and you’re always really strong about it, but I don’t like it when you’re in pain. I can’t stand it actually.”

I pushed her hair back and held her face in my hand. “I’ll be fine. I’m taking pain medicine, it won’t be too bad I promise.” I kissed her cheek knowing that I was lying, but we kept walking and she didn’t question anything .

“I hear you, but you don’t understand.” She walked a little faster trying to out pace me, but I caught up taking her by the hand.

“Then tell me, so I will.”

She gave a quick blush, pulling her hair back into a ponytail. Seeing her hair go up made me a little sad, but that’s besides the point.

“It’s embarrassing, also don’t do that, you can always take it down later.”

She gave me a flirty grin before using her speed to run ahead. I was going to run after her when a cramp stopped me in my tracks making me double over in pain.

She ran back towards me, holding me up so I wouldn’t fall over.

“Nope, we’re going back to the dorm. No class today, I’ll send emails.”

I grit my teeth together trying to pull off a smile while standing back up. “I’m fine, I promise, just get the pain medicine out of my bag please.”

She reached for my bag, but another cramp came that had me about to throw up.

“Nope, we both know that you already took it too late or forgot completely. We’re going home.”

She looked around before picking me up in a wedding carry and speeding back to the outside of the apartment.

“Here, two and you’re going to sleep.”

I took the pills and water from her giving up. “Okay.” I know I said that I wanted her to stay, but if she gets so upset seeing me in a little pain then I don’t know how she’ll react being with me right now.

We made it to our room and I ran straight into the bathroom throwing up the breakfast she made. While I was dying, she made the bed, got my heating pad, and sat watching me slowly walk to the bed to lay down.

“You looking at me like that is giving major creep vibes.” I knew she was only doing it because she was worried, but I couldn’t let her be too worried without joking on her a little.

Instead of continuing to give off creep, she stood up and paced the room. I guess she must’ve been very nervous because I could hear her thoughts, something that had never happened before.

It’s okay. She’s going to be okay. She’s not dying. She’s just in pain, which I hate. I hate it. I hate it. Okay, what can I do to help? Okay, she has her heating pad, medicine, I’ll make a warm bath when she is feeling better and wants to get up, does she want cuddles, oh my God she smells so good. Fuck, I need to leave before I eat her. Well, there is some research that an orgasm helps with cramps, but I don’t want her to think that I’m horny. Eating her out right now does sound good, I wouldn’t let a single drop fall. No. No. No. I’m being a horrible girlfriend right now. She’s in pain, I’m going to go cuddle her. Fuck I need to eat. Fuck, she smells sooo good.

I opened my eyes to feel her under the covers in between my legs.

“Babe!”

Her eyes had turned and her fangs were out.

“Babe! Baby!”

She finally came to and went beside me.

“I’m sorry I don’t know what got into me.”

She looked worried, scared, and I could hear her thoughts going a mile a minute. But only one stood out.

She’s going to break up with me.

“Baby, come here.”

I held my arms out, waiting for her to fill the space between them. She took my heating pad, restarting the time and heat on it before slowly coming to lie just above the heating pad. I played in her hair finally taking the ponytail down. A win is a win.

“I’m not going to break up with you. Not now, not ever. You even thinking that breaks my heart, okay?”

She nodded looking down. I could feel her shaking as her tears fell to her arm.

“Aww baby.” I lifted her up, wiping her face.

“Okay…but I have to tell you something that’s a little creepy and embarrassing. I should’ve told you earlier when I brought it up, but ever since I bit you I can feel what you feel. I try to ignore it and block it out if I can, but the bigger the feeling the harder it is to block. So when you started cramping I could feel how much pain you were in, it terrified me. And I am never here when you’re on your period because your blood is intoxicating and me loving you makes me want to umm relieve your pain any way possible, also your blood can make me a little tipsy to say the least. I don’t want to talk about it, but I leave because I’m trying to protect you from me, the monster.”

She hung her head down and it’s like I could feel her heart cracking and it hurt so much. I never knew she was going through all of this or even that me calling her a monster so long ago still affected her. I could feel the pain radiating off of her when she said it and although I have questions about her being able to feel what I feel, I think I’m starting to understand her a lot more.

I pushed her hair back and we laid together like that until I fell asleep. When I woke up, she had some more pain medicine, fruit, and water in her hands.

“I know you don’t eat much the first two days, but you need to eat something and I thought something light like this might help.” She put the bowl of fruit on the bedside table before giving me her signature shy grin while holding the meds and bottle out for me to take.

“Thank you my love.” I took the medicine and drunk water from the bottle before eating a couple pieces of fruit. “Do you want to cuddle again?” She just stood there frozen and I could sense the fear.

“ You aren’t going to hurt me.” I reached out for her and she took my hand kissing it before cuddling me and restarting the heating pad which I hadn’t realized had gone out.

With her arms wrapped around me my mind started wondering to earlier. I know she was talking about period pain, but now it just makes me wonder if she can feel how much she turns me on, when she makes me cum, and other things like that? Wait, can she feel when I masturbate? Is there a way that I can feel what she feels? If yes, then that would explain why she’s so sensitive when it’s my turn to please her and I think I kind of already feel what she feels. Well, at least I can feel the sadness.

She had the biggest blush on her face as she turned away from me in bed .

“To answer your questions, yes. Now stop thinking before you start something.”

Stop thinking? Maybe I want to start something.

“No you don’t. We’ve never had sex while you’re on your period and some of the lore about it is real. Very real.”

She turned back around snuggling closer into me, her head now on my chest. Before I could ask about the lore, she started back talking.

“You’ve always relaxed me, from the first time I saw you back when I was hurting myself trying not to kill someone. You’d come into the room and I couldn’t feel any of the pain. Even right now listening to your heartbeat, how it gets a little faster when we kiss or when I touch you like this.” She gently traced her fingers down my spine while looking into my eyes. This girl. “Or just hearing your thoughts can help put me at ease. Well, not right now, you horny freak, but usually.” She looked into my eyes and pulled me into a kiss.

At this point I grabbed her so she was on top of me.

I sat up so our faces were inches apart and brought her into a kiss before drifting to her neck.

“If you weren’t blocking them, could I hear your thoughts and feel what you feel?” I asked her in between kissing the sweet spots on her neck and rubbing her hotspots.

“Uhh…fu-fuck yesss.” I could see the lust in her eyes as she was trying her best to restrain herself.

“Let me in.” I ordered licking her neck before sucking and biting trying to leave hickies.

Her head tilted back and I could feel her hips grinding into mine, just trying to get any friction that she could. A low moan came from her lips and I could see her fangs. I could feel her ragged breathing by my ear, then she pulled away. I kept hold of her waist so she couldn’t go too far.

“Baby, we can’t. If we do, a lot will happen and I don’t know if we’re ready for those changes.”

She looked at me sadly while pulling my hair away from my face.

“Tell me what happens and we can decide together.”

She tried to get off of my lap, but I kept a stronghold looking her up and down with a straight face. She sighed, making herself more comfortable.

“There’s old lore about the powers of period blood as in someone eating or consuming another person’s links them. The lore is true, but for vampire couples it is a lot extra. In essence I’d become addicted to you in a way, as if, I could become anymore enamored by you. But that’s the lore and since we are in love, apparently it gives some powers to both parties if the vampire has the sexual acts reciprocated.”

She blushed looking away.

“As if I’d ever leave you hanging, but is this, this lore part of the reason why you usually aren’t around?”

She shook her head signaling yes.

“And it doesn’t matter,because that’s not happening. Not right now at least, I mean some things can happen, but just not the reciprocation right now.”

She rambled nervously as a blush crept onto her face. I pulled her back in, kissing her again. Bringing her hair back I stared into her eyes.

“I’m not opposed to it, but we don’t have to either. I don’t want to do anything you aren’t ready to do , but can you take the boundary down and fully let me in? I know it’s your last defense, but I’m your girlfriend and I’m not going anywhere, understood?”

She shook her head agreeing before I kissed her passionately once again. She slowly started grinding onto me again.

“Okay baby, I’m ready.” She moaned and like a flood I could feel how much she wanted, no needed this.

“Fuck, shit.” I gasped as I could feel how wet she was and her clit throbbing as if it were my own. I could feel my touch on her and how it felt like electricity was going throughout me.

I trailed my hand to her waist and pulled her panties aside before slowly putting a finger inside of her. Our eyes locked, we moaned together as I could feel the pleasure she was getting.

She needed my touch, was craving it, so badly. Trying to keep her composure, to not fuck me senseless. I could feel all of it, her back arching from my touch, my tongue on her neck, fingers exploring her insides, her shaking, the need for more.

“Baby, if you needed me this much you should’ve said something.”

She let off a breathy giggle. “I didn’t know how? Ugh fuck me please.” She pleaded needing more than just my one finger to get her off.

“Asking like that is a good way to start.” Heating pad and pain be damned, I’m going to fuck this girl senseless.

Both of us switched positions her back on the bed while I straddled on top of her. A bit of pain came back, but I couldn't care less at the moment which left one of us.

“Babe, no.” She gently placed me beside her and reset my heating pad on my stomach.

I could feel her need, how much she wanted me, but overpowering that was worry, her wanting me to feel better.

“But, I know how much you need this right now and I don’t want to leave you horny. A little pain won’t kill me.” I reached towards her only for her to pull back.

“It won’t kill you, but it’ll hurt me knowing that you’re hurting.”

“Okay, but you aren’t getting it.” I looked towards her.

“I’ll be fine, I’m right here, I’m not leaving.”

I pulled the finger out, licking it as I looked her in the eyes.

“I know how much you need this right now. You’re always putting yourself last and making sure that I’m okay, that I feel good, as your girlfriend it’s my job to put you first. So you’re going to lay down and you’re going to let me fuck you, then afterwards I’ll do whatever you want even if that is just cuddling and taking medicine. But right now, you’re wet, horny, and I can feel how much you want me to just take you, so let me.”

I looked into her eyes, rubbing up and down her thigh. I love her reactions, how sensitive she is with me. She shook her head eagerly before taking her clothes off.

“Okay.” She guided my hand back to her pussy. “But I’m doing to you whatever you do to me.”

I slid a finger inside curving it to hit her spot and was rewarded with a moan before she easily slid a finger into my folds, finding my spot just as easily.

On a regular day I’m super sensitive to her touch, but right now, I’m trying my hardest not to cum. I need to get her off first, I can’t let her make me cum first.

I slid another finger inside of her and found a rhythm curving it to hit her spot every time. I started pounding into her, her moans coming out like sweet music. I could feel her orgasm building, her shaking underneath me, and trying her best to keep her fangs at bay.

Her eyes were closed and she was running away from the pleasure. Her body slightly backing away from me everytime I thrust my fingers inside, slowly making her take less and less.

“Stop running and look at me when I’m making you cum. You’re such a sub for me.”

She hissed her fangs very much out and her eyes glowing with pleasure. I had her right how I wanted her, but somehow she flipped me over taking my clothes off while sliding a towel underneath me.

She had my legs opened and up so fast that I couldn’t think before her tongue made contact with my throbbing clit. She tore my underwear off before sticking two fingers inside of me fucking me like she hates me and now I’m the one running away, not able to look or speak to her. She was bringing me to the point of tears, fucking me while sneaking a meal. Her eyes glowed with a slight twinkle as she kept working to make me cum harder than I have before.

She was in my head saying all the right things to make me cum.

You’re such a good little slut, now come for Mommy. I want to taste you all over my tongue. You taste so good right now baby, give me more. Reward me for fucking your pussy like this. Oh my, you look so good, I’m cumming just looking at you. Fuck, you’re so beautiful, cum for me My Pretty Girl.

Between her being in my head and fucking the hell out of me I was panting, cumming at will, almost about to pass out.

She kissed me, pouring water into my mouth which I happily accepted before screaming as she continued to abuse my spots. My legs shaking as my eyes fluttered she kept fucking me hard.

Uhh it’s so nice seeing you turn into a little puddle like this for me. Such a good girl taking my fingers. You’re cumming so much baby.

And I was cumming hard, no words just sounds and I couldn’t even get my thoughts together. My mind went blank as the feeling got stronger.

I tried to keep in control of my body, but I could feel myself giving in to my more aggressive self. She’s only seen this side of me once or twice when I was a bit too over stimulated, which is why I try to keep it down, but I can't right now. If she wants to be a monster, then she’s about to meet her match.

“Baby, we f-fuck need to stop before. “ I choked out as I was shaking from another orgasm.

“I’m not stopping, bring it on baby. I can feel you about to switch, but I am too. Let’s see how this works out.”

“Fu-fuck, don’t say I didn’t warn you.” I looked into Juliette’s eyes trying my hardest to chill, but it didn’t work, I was cumming undone.

“You did, but I’m going to enjoy this. “

I shook in the bed, cumming so hard that I couldn’t stop myself from moaning loudly. I could feel Juls tonging me through my orgasm leading me to another one.

“F-fuck.” My juices were spilling out of me and Juliette wasn’t missing a single drop. She came up with her mouth wet as her tongue licked around to get every drop. Her fingers still trapped inside of my pulsing pussy going in and out had me in a trance. I couldn’t take it anymore…

[hetaliaimaginesin2022]

Hetalia Troupe Writing Prompts

You know those age-old troupes and alternate universes (aus) in fanfiction? Whether you love them or hate them, they're common in fandoms all over the internet, including Hetalia. I also decided I wanted to make my current Tumblr look like my 2016 DeviantArt page, so I'm doing a cute little writing prompt thing that begins as soon as I hit post and will continue indefinitely

The Rules: You'll have 3 categories to choose from; Aus, Genres, and Troupes, and I'll either write headcanons (a list) or a one-shot (short story), your choice

GENRES (Choose up to 1)

Angst

Comfort

Fluff

Slice of Life

Smut

AUS (Choose up to 1)

N/A (Canon)

Actor Au (The characters are actors in the live action comedy "Hetalia" and their roles as countries are the parts they're playing, their human names are their real identities)

Animal Au (Cat ears, bird wings, snake tails, etc., it's all anthropomorphic animals here)

Apocalypse Au (Zombies, nuclear winter, natural disasters, it’s characters thriving in unlikely conditions)

Coffee Shop Au (Barista/Customer, Barista/Barista, Boss/Customer, a cute story contained in a coffee shop setting)

College Au (Characters in an American college or university setting, can include student/student or professor/professor)

Cops and Robbers Au (Theif/Detective is the most common, though anything along those lines fit)

Deity Au (The most common example is with Greek mythology where a tale will be told with characters and/or the reader, the story of Hades and Persephone was regularly reimagined)

Fairytale Au (Cinderella, Rapunzel, Beauty and The Beast, Little Red Riding Hood, etc.)

Famous Au (Musicians, performers, or famous for being country personifications)

Genderswap Au (Nyo!talia, is combinable with two more Aus)

Hallmark Au (Character A is a hardworking person who moved to a snowy town and meets B, a fun-loving person who shows them the true meaning of the season- and love)

Harry Potter Au (Fuck JK Rolling but the HP Au was a huge portion of this fandom early on for me personally, so I wanted to add it)

High School Au (Characters in a high school setting, can include student/student or teacher/teacher, student/teacher is not permitted, regardless of ages)

Historical Au (Any time period, I will be doing some cursory research on the time period before and while I write just to make sure things are at least a bit historically accurate)

Human Au (The characters are normal humans with regular human lives, often overlaps with high school/college au, though they're not necessarily linked)

Magic Au (High or urban fantasy, your choice)

Mythology Au (Vampires, werewolves, fairies, mermaids, etc.)

Paranormal Au (Ghosts, demons, angels)

Pirate Au (Would you be an ‘arrg’ type of pirate or a ‘yo-ho-ho’ kind?)

Royalty Au (Princes, princesses, kings, queens, royal advisors, butlers, maids, go crazy)

Soulmate Au (Timer, heterochromia, red string, there’s a variety of options and I’ll write for any of them)

Spy/Assassin/Hitman Au

World Acadamy Au (The "multicultural private educational institution located in New York", it's a school setting in which the countries set, based off of a spin off game and a few episodes)

TROPES (Choose up to 2)

Amnesia

Arranged Marriage

Body Swap

Character Death

Didn't Know They Were Dating

Divorce

Drunken Confession

Enemies To Lovers

Exes Getting Back Together

Fake Relationship

First Kiss

Forbidden Love

Huddle For Warmth

Illness/Injury

Last Kiss

Long-Distance Relationship

Love Triangle

Meet-Cute

Mutual Pining

Only One Bed

Pregnancy (accidental or otherwise)

Pen Pals

Road Trip

Roommates

Secret Relationship

Sex Pollen/Heat (*Not applicable with angst)

Single Parent(s)

Snowed In

Unrequited Love

Yandere

Please submit your request by stating it's for the Troupe Writing Prompts, followed by your choices and the character/characters involved and I'll get to it when I can, thank you for taking the time to read <3

[angstfactory]

"Nah," Jesse said now, in a quieter and calmer tone even though his chest pounded so loudly in his ears, "we were two guys that liked to hang out sometimes, because we just happened to be there at the time." That tone had hardened, though. Become more resolute. Because the intention was clear and evident-- he had to separate himself from Kai, from all of them. If Jesse had to hurt others to protect himself, then that was what had to happen. Was it ideal? Did he want to hurt Kai or anyone else that seemed to think they cared about him? No. But he would, for his own selfish reasons. Jesse had lived by one motto and one motto only for these past fifteen years: he had to take care of himself, first.

He truly, wholeheartedly believed, that at some point the other shoe would drop and people like Kai, who claimed they liked and cared about him, thought he was their best bud and whatever, would come to see just how useless and disappointing the junkman was. That actually, he wasn't worth keeping around at all. Once the beers stopped and the jokes dried up, they would finally get a good look at the guy, and what his parents had seen... what Talia had seen... what all those teachers and cops and friends and neighbors had seen... That made them all turn their backs and ditch him in the dust. And the worst part was, he could see it all himself. Jesse had nothing going for him. He had no life goals, no ambitions, no career, no education. He went through life, seizing whatever cheap thrills and opportunities were available, or he cheated his way to them.

Knowing all of that, didn't make it hurt any less. Jesse had open sores all over him and he was so sick of the salt that rubbed in. He couldn't let himself get attached to anyone anymore. Quite frankly, he just wasn't strong enough to continue to weather this storms time and time again.

"Well, hate to break it to you, Kai, but this is a part of me too," Jesse told the other man, looking up at the witch as he tied the bags off. "Surprise! Good you found out now, right, than later. Consider it a favor. You're welcome." The sarcasm was back. But he meant every word. Kai only proved his point. The witch was out here, picking and choosing when to like Jesse, what things to like about him -- he was so much fun, when they were out drinking and having a good time and acted like there weren't any problems in life. But the second the guy got cold feet and shut people out, that was too much for Kai. That the man wasn't here for. All of them would match Kai's energy and he was actually so, so fucking thankful to the witch in that moment for keeping his eyes wide open and clear. Friends? Bullshit.

"I've been sticking it out, Kai," he insisted, taking up one of the bags on his shoulder and cringing from a stitch at his side, favoring the left as he carried it to the dumpster. "I never stay in one place long-- this wasn't supposed to be any different, I got sidetracked," he said thickly. He'd gotten too comfortable, actually. He had somehow found a small part of the world that nearly made him feel like he belonged there, until the stark reality of it came back. He should have never stopped looking for Talia. "Look," Jesse came back to stand before the witch then, idly rubbing the area just below his ribcage at his left side, "it's not personal, alright? I don't hate you. You're a cool guy, we had some good laughs. I.. appreciate that you listened to me bitchin' n' moanin' about my sis, that you tried to help." He exhaled, shrugging. "N' I know I'm bein' a real asshole right now -- I got no choice, man -- but it's time I get on outta here. I'm overstayin' my welcome anyway."

Three attacks in the last half year? Yeah, he'd say so.

Kai quickly realised that the more he said, the worse things got. So, he decided to stop trying to reason with Jesse. He could understand, to an extent, how he was feeling. Kai knew of plenty of humans who felt unease in Raven's Peak thanks to the ever growing population of supernatural beings. Hell, he even knew of some who had no idea. They were the ones who were most at risk, but that wasn't something he was about to point out.

He watched with curiousity as Jesse started piling up the vegetation. "Yeah, well, you've got a fucking funny way of showing it." He said, though he wasn't sure he was supposed to have actually heard what Jesse had said. Kai wasn't sure what he could do to show Jesse that he wasn't a threat to him. Sure, he could stop doing magic around him, but he wasn't about to pretend to be something he wasn't. "You're not a fucking nobody to me. Up until about five minutes ago I thought you were a friend. No matter what you might think about me or what I am, that actually means something to me. I don't go around just attacking people, let alone my fucking friends." In his life, Kai Winter had done a lot of stupid things, but he had never done anything that would put his friends in harms way. "If I was gonna get tired of your shit, it would've happened months ago. But I actually fucking like you. When you're not acting like this you're actually fun to be around."

"Not with that fucking attitude. There's a reason you're still here. She could be closer than you think. Maybe you just need to stick it out." Kai really did feel for Jesse with his situation, he did. He'd tried to help in any way that he could, but even he was starting to feel like it was hopeless. Not that he would ever admit that to the older man. "All kinds of people have been showing up lately. Ride it out, see if she turns up."

[red-jaebyrd]

Good Talk, Headmaster

This fic is based on this post by @nightwingthebooty. Thanks for the inspiration

There was an awkward silence that hovered over the three occupants in the spacious office of the headmaster of West-Reeve Academy. Bruce could feel a tension headache starting to rise behind his left eye radiating to his left temple. The person responsible for said tension headache was sitting the a chair right next to him with graceful aloofness.

“What are you doing here?” Bruce asked, through gritted teeth.

“Excuse me, I can’t have an interest in my son’s ‘education’?” Talia answered, making air quotes as she said the last word.

“You’ve never shown an interest in anything regarding our son,” Bruce retorted. “Why start now?”

“I do when certain decisions interfere with my child’s wellbeing.”

“Since when?” Bruce challenged, turning in his seat to face Talia.

“Since now. Honestly, Bruce, this is the best you’ve decided for our son?” Talia argued, gesturing toward the Headmaster. “This mediocre institution is stifling our son’s potential.”

“Ms al Ghul, if I may interject. This is the best private institution in the East Coast; and Damian is excelling in all subjects,” Headmaster Adams said, gesturing at the open file in front of him.”

“If that is the case then why are we here?” Talia sneered, tilting her head.

“It is a matter of your son’s behavior and actions toward other teachers and fellow students.” Headmaster Adams said, squirming under Talia’s glare.

“What happened?” Bruce asked, fighting hard not to sag his shoulders in defeat.

“Numerous times Damian has interrupted a professor mid lecture to argue and inform the teacher that and I quote…” Adams paused to direct his attention to the sheet of paper and read from it. “…your inaptitude to accurately teach the true events of this particular moment in history is a direct reflection of the limits of your mediocre and outdated education.”

“He said this to a teacher?” Bruce asked, sitting straighter in his chair. Bruce was taken aback by this new information. They had discussed on many occasions that challenging the professor was acceptable. Insulting the professor was not.

“That is correct, Mr Wayne. Damian made him cry. Took a whole day to get Professor Axel out of his office.”

“Was Damian, at the very least, correct in his assessment of the subject matter being discussed?”

“Talia, that’s not the point,” Bruce countered, placing his hand on his head in exasperation. He took a breath and addressed the Headmaster. “I will discuss this matter with Damian –“

“Why should you? There is nothing to discuss if Damian was correct. He was taught by the best tutors money could buy when he lived with me.”

“That’s the problem, Talia. He never should have been living with you in the first place,” Bruce retorted.

“I’ll have you know that while he was living with me, he was –“

Headmaster Adams loudly cleared his throat.

“If we may continue, there is also the matter of Damian’s interaction with other students,” Adams continued, clasping his hands together.

“Oh boy,” Bruce muttered, scrubbing his face harshly. “Whose nose did he break this time?”

“No, no. Mr Jefferies has steered clear of Damian since their altercation on the grounds at the start of term. No one will even come near Damian now, except the Kent boy, but he talks to everyone,” Adams cleared his throat again. “Anyway, regarding Damian, he’s quite protective of the younger students and he also helps many of the other students with their homework.”

“Where is the concern?” Talia asked, crossing her arms.

“We also discovered that Damian was helping a number of our high school students with their homework. Some had him help them with college entrance exams.”

“And by ‘helping’ do you mean providing them with the answers and doing their homework?” Bruce questioned, slowly starting to sag in his chair.

“No, nothing like that; he was charging a fee for his services. A very sizable fee if I’m being honest.”

“As he should,” Talia remarked, sitting back and gazing at her nails. “Considering the staff you have employed here your students need all the help they can get.”

“Talia, you’re not helping,” Bruce hissed, leaning forward resting his elbows on his knees.

“He even drummed up a contract,” Adams said, producing a piece of paper and handing it to Bruce. “By the looks of it he had it notarized.”

“As he should,” Talia remarked, pulling out a glass file from her purse and filing her nails. “My son is not an idiot.”

“So he wasn’t cheating, just tutoring and essentially helping older students prepare for college tests,” Bruce inquired, handing the contract back to the professor.

“Yes, but we can’t have him charging money for those kinds of services,” Adams reiterated, folding his hands in front of him.

“Why not? These students’ parents would likely pay for the same services to an outsider. How convenient for these students to find someone ‘in house’,” Talia challenged, taking the contract from the desk and looking it over. “T-T, you are worth so much more than this, my son.”

Bruce snatched the paper back from Talia and placed it back onto the professor’s desk. He didn’t want to admit it. Fuck he hated that he agreed with every single word she just said. The worst part was having to admit it out loud that Talia al Ghul was finally right about a matter concerning their son.

“She’s right, Professor,” Bruce said, sitting up straighter in his chair. “Damian wasn’t cheating or breaking any laws or school policies. He was providing a service to students to help better their education. Are any of the parents complaining?

“No.”

“Are any of the students complaining?” Bruce asked.

“No.”

“Then we are done here,” Talia declared, picking up her handbag and standing up.

“We are not done here, Ms al Ghul,” Adams squeaked, straightening himself in his chair. “The issue at hand –“

Talia set her handbag down on the chair and walked closer to the desk. Holding her glass file in her hand as she addressed the Headmaster.

“Do you know who I am, Headmaster?” Talia inquired in a low tone, reaching over the desk and closing the open file on Damian.

The Headmaster glanced at Bruce, but Bruce kept his face neutral, sat back in his chair and got comfortable. The Headmaster swallowed thickly and nodded in response to Talia’s question.

“The only issue I see here are the fragile egos of second-rate teachers at an overrated institution,” Talia continued, keeping the tone of her voice low. Bruce was familiar with the tactic. Talia used it to intimidate executives in business deals. 

Talia moved back toward the chair and sat down. Depositing her handbag on the floor. 

“There was a lack and my son saw an opportunity to fill a need. Plain and simple,” Talia reiterated, continuing to file her nails. “If it makes you feel any better I will have him redistribute the money back into the school so that you may invest in better resources to help your students flourish. Does this arrangement suffice?” 

The Headmaster was speechless. His mouth kept flapping open and closed like a fish out of water. He kept glancing at Bruce, but Bruce wasn’t going to ruin this moment for Talia. She didn’t need him to interject one bit.

“Good talk, Headmaster,” Talia ended the conversation, gathering her handbag and exiting the office. She waved her hand dismissively. “Until next time.

Bruce got up from his chair and couldn’t hide the smirk on his face. They had finally agreed on something concerning Damian.

“Until next time, Headmaster,” Bruce repeated and held out his hand for the Headmaster to shake.

[nutellarghh]

17 Questions, 17 people

Holy shit I am terrible in tag games apparently, since I didn’t even know this many people tagged me in this! So, thank you to @but-theres-wolves @ilovepeachystuff @fairytales-and-folklore and @fanfics-fix ! 

Nicknames: Nutella, Nut, Nutty, Nat, Bitch are among the most popular. There were some people at one point who called me Talia, but that died a while back.

Zodiac: Cancerrrr

Height: 5″4 I think?

Hogwarts house: Slytherin all the way!

Last thing I googled: “the mozambique”. I have a weird feeling this says too much about me.

Followers: 606.

Song stuck in my head: ummm... the ‘suck a dick’ vine song. intercepted with “fuck this shit, im out” every now and then.

How much sleep: either 0 hours or like, 11-12. There’s no inbetween and thanks, I hate it.

Lucky number: 13 I guess? 

Dream job: Oh man, I wanted to be a lawyer for so long. I still do in some ways, but I also like my current job so now I’m torn between getting back into education to finish all my legal qualifications, or staying and investment banking where I’m currently getting qualifications... Life, man

Wearing: Long fluffy pyjama pants and a coca cola night shirt. I’m in Poland, it’s winter, I’ve been working from home for almost two years now, fuck you.

Favourite song: One???? You want me to list one??? Impossible?????????? But according to my spotify, my most replayed song this year (that wasn’t for like, trying to hypnotise myself into sleep or force myself into hyperfocus reasons, just for enjoyment reasons) was Burn Burn by Nico Vega

Favourite instrument: Drums. Gimme all the base. I want my lungs rattling against my ribcage.

Aesthetic: Um. Swearin’, smokin’, drinkin’? 

Favourite Author: Actual fave is a Polish author, Halina Rudnicka. English - Orwell. Fanfic - I think we’re all simping after @isthatbloodonhisshirt here.

Favourite animal noise: Deer. They make the most fucked up, derpy noises and I love it.

Something random: Dude, my whole life is random. I don’t know what to say herrreeeeeeeeeee

Aight, im gonna tag @ash-mcj @princecharmingwinks @tails89 @fairydustedtheory @idle-rodent (we connected, now im gonna tag you in all the shit, get ready for that) @seanchaidh7 @alphadiablo29 @asarcasticwitch @jmeelee and everyone else who wants to participate

[chronicbatfictioner]

Exchanges and Compromises - Chapter 20

The dinner was just as Jason expected, bland, dull, a lot of formalities in which Bane was visibly struggling with and did not even bother to pretend to know the difference between steak or salad forks. Jason, Dick, and Tim managed to keep the conversation alive and light, somehow without offending the formality of the dinner. Good thing, Jason thought, that The League had taught him of formal dinner etiquette and whatnot, otherwise he would have been slurping the baiwang with the soup spoon instead of the Chinese soup spoon provided by Alfred - like Bane.

Dick, for all of his lack of etiquette education, won in the manners division - regardless of the fact that Tim was helping him by pointing out which cutlery should be used for what. At the very least, he was not beneath asking what he wasn't sure of. 

The day after was a little duller. Alfred merely informed them that the police were there along with the District Attorney, Harvey Dent, to arrest Bane on several counts of murder. Bane was arrested nearly without a fight - he had been purged of his venom strength and knew that he had no chance against some of the cops who were ready to taser him.

Jason was... frankly, a little disappointed.

"Would've been nice if there was a brawl or something," Dick voiced Jason's thought out loud just as he walked outside.

"Oh, goodness, I'm just glad this is over," Bruce commented, glaring apprehensively at Dick's back as the latter walked away with Damian. There was a good long silence before he added, "I presume now that Bane is out of this house, Damian will no longer need you two? I mean, he has me now - and his grandparents." he pointed out.

"I have vowed to guard Damian until he is an adult," Jason replied simply. Ignoring Bruce's sudden change of expression. "it is my order."

"Well, Talia... no offense. But Talia won't-- is no longer around to hold you accountable." Bruce argued.

"No, she's not. But Damian is." Jason looked at the child, sitting under one of the Manor's massive trees with a thick sketchbook before him. Dick, Jason knew, was on the tree. Even with Bane arrested, Oracle had warned that as long as he's not fully incarcerated in a maximum-security facility, he could still either get out and hurt the Waynes - including Damian. Therefore Jason asked Dick to remain with them for a little while longer. Thankfully, Dick didn't mind.

"He's a child. Children adapt well with changes of environments," Bruce said. "and if you're afraid that Bane would come back, I can hire some bodyguards for him."

Jason managed to hold back his smirk. People always thought that he was there to protect Damian; not realizing that he was protecting others from Damian's temper. Instead, he smarted, "like you protected your parents by sending them overseas."

"Oh, now, that's not fair." Bruce protested. "It was... we all thought that... at least mother and I..." he didn't finish his sentence as he exhaled exasperatedly. "His DNA check is back," he continued after a few moments of silence.

"Obviously, he hasn't a drop of Wayne blood in him," Jason suggested, a little dryly. "Something anyone with knowledge of the molecular structure of DNA would have known right away. You accepted Damian right away because you saw he has your mother's ears, in spite of his green eyes. Yet you doubted your father's denial in spite of the fact that there is nothing on Bane that resembled any of you - including about all of the portraits of your ancestors.

"And then there's something else I realized. Bane came with nothing; whereas Damian came with the Al Ghul wealth. You were more accepting because Damian would not equal splitting the Wayne wealth..."

"That is not true!" Bruce growled. "I would not have turned Damian away even if he was not Talia's child. He is my child, and I know that he is!"

"Then we're back to my initial point: You were unable to defend your parents because you did not have 100% faith in their virtues. The Al Ghuls are known leaders of the League of Assassins, to which the leadership shall now be Damian's. What will be your argument, when he decides to take over the League fully? 'Oh, I can't be associated with criminals, even if said crimes were just allegation and not a video recording of someone snapping off another person's neck'?" Jason sneered. "Now, Mister Wayne. I also would like to remind you, that I have Damian's legal custody. If you insist I should leave, I shall bring him along."

"You can't do that," Bruce scowled. "He's my biological child..."

"You have studied your country's laws, Mister Wayne. But you forgot the one crucial thing: Damian is not your country's boy by any means other than your claim." Jason mentally realized that he has placed one of his ace cards onto the table. But he honestly prefers this kind of conversation not to be had when Damian is present. And from the looks of it, he has packed his sketching materials and was making his way back indoors. "Do not try to deny Damian's access to me, or the League, Mr Wayne. He is not yours to manipulate," he added softly while Damian was still out of range.

"Hey guys, Damian and I are hungry," Dick announced as they went past the door. "Think Alfred would let us have cookies?"

"He's the one who is hungry, Todd," Damian told Jason. "I shall wait until tea time for the cookies. It is only a mere hour away."

"Why don't you scrub up a little? Tea should be ready by the time you're done." Bruce suggested.

Damian's scowl could have killed a cobra. "While I am planning on refreshing myself, father, it would be kind of you to cease directing me as if I am an imbecile," he stated, and for the second time in less than 10 minutes, Jason bit the inside of his cheek to stop a snicker.

Bruce, however, was not amused at Damian. "Well! That is not what a child should say to his father!" he admonished.

"Todd," Damian glared at Jason. "Did you not inform Mr Wayne here that I merely referred to him as 'father' due to common societal practices?" he asked with air quotes around the word 'father'.

"I have informed him that, Damian," Jason assured him.

"Do remind him on a daily basis that I am not obliged to remain here beyond what is demanded by his country's societal norms." Damian continued.

"I shall, Damian," Jason replied.

"Very well, I shall be in my quarters until tea time. You might consider feeding Grayson here, Todd," Damian said dismissively.

"I actually have some matters to discuss with you, Damian, if you don't mind. I think Grayson can fend for himself just fine," Jason told him.

"I don't mind. Let us, then." Damian said, leading the way back to his room.

Jason nodded politely to Bruce and motioned Dick to join him. "Mr Wayne, Grayson."

As they left Bruce, still standing in confusion - probably - Dick remarked, "ouch," softly.

"Go on and get your own cookies, Grayson," Jason remarked.

"I need to discuss something with you, too. You two, actually, somewhere safe." Dick said. Both Jason and Damian paused their steps. "Yeah, and we might need to call upon a certain bird for backup," Dick added, almost nonchalantly. It was not until then that Jason noticed the tenseness on his shoulders. He remembered that Dick, too, was trained to keep an eye out for danger.

"You go on ahead with Damian, I'll ask Alfred if he may have tea in his quarters." Jason decided. Damian nodded, realizing the urgency in Dick's posture, and stepped a little closer to Dick as Jason turned the other way.

Whatever it is Dick has to say, Jason could be certain now that besides himself, Dick would protect Damian fiercely. And/or protect other, possibly innocent people, from Damian's tempers.

He was just wondering why did it seem that Bruce Wayne was so intent on removing him.

And why Dr and Mrs Wayne would suddenly take a trip to Europe right after they were proverbially and literally freed from Bane.

Alfred, as usual, was in the kitchen preparing for tea time. In spite of being Americans, the Waynes seemed to like the habit of afternoon tea time.

Jason told Alfred of Damian's request, and Alfred nodded slowly. "Is Master Bruce still in the sun-room, then?" he asked.

"Last time I saw him, yeah."

"Ah, then... young Jason, may an old man request something from you and your vast knowledge of herbs?" Alfred's face was as impassive as ever when he said that, just a shade before he returned to his task of preparing some small sandwiches. But Jason was a little confused. Why would Alfred ask him for herbs? As far as Jason could tell, he was as healthy as... well, someone Jason's age, which has got to be at least a third of Alfred's; half at most. Jason didn't think that Alfred was any older than mid- to late-40s.

"Sure, how can I help?" he answered, anyway.

"Oh, I was wondering if there is any method you may suggest to... how do I put it... Chafe off surgical remains within oneself? I have had work done for my nose, you see, on a whim as a young lad; and I do not believe it looks becoming on me as I age. I feel as if it makes me look like another person is inhabiting my body, as Master Bruce was wont to say."

Jason blinked, and partially wished Dick was there to confirm his thoughts. In spite of being the exact same height as Jason, Alfred was bowing his head a little as he spoke; and Jason knew that there was a surveillance camera that would be able to record their conversation in the kitchen. His shoulders were tenser than the task of cutting bread would have required.

"Well, wow... okay. I'll need to actually search my books. You know some of the ladies back then would apply something to their skin for scars or bruises. But I'm not sure if it'll work on surgical stuff. I'll let you know?" Jason replied carefully.

"Thank you, Jason, for considering. While it shames me for being vain, it is... rather crucial." Alfred smiled at him.

"No problem, Alf," Jason patted him on the shoulder and made his way back to Damian's room - where each and every surveillance device has been disabled and/or misdirected by the combination of Tim, Barbara, and Damian's own skills.

Once Jason walked in and closed the doors of Damian's room behind him, he was greeted by both Damian and Dick's voices.

"That man is not my father, Todd! I believe my grandparents may still be in danger!" Damian exclaimed as Dick stormed over and announced 'There was an increase of drone activities outside, that's why I brought Damian in!' - followed by Damian and Dick glaring at each other, and Damian said, "Todd, we might need to acquire some new exit strategy!" at the same time as Dick saying, 'I've sent a text to Tim, but he hasn't answered. I've texted Babs, though!'

Jason cringed at them. "Whoa! Hold up! If this is how you two kids report, nobody would need surveillance equipment to hear you from Gotham Harbor!" he snarled. The two promptly stopped and glared at each other again, as if they both were hoping to have Superman's laser vision or something. "Okay, I've heard you both, and I'm upping the ante. Alfred just asked me practically for a method to dissolve foreign objects inside someone's body and allude that someone in the house is not who they seemed. And said someone might be Bruce."

Damian threw his fist to the air, stating, "I knew it!"

Dick's eyes were wide as saucers. "Okay... I would... I've wanted to say the same thing since we got in. But I was kinda scared I might be wrong. What makes you sure?"

"Alfred referred to Bruce in the past tense when talking to me," Jason said. "You? --wait, no, Damian first."

"He looked and behaved differently than the videos mother had shown me," Damian replied.

"I second Damian on this. Well, dude... we need to communicate better, don't we?" Dick said, telling the last bit toward Damian. "I've only met him once, way back when-- when my parents were... you know. But like I've told you, I remember everything from that day as if it has just happened. I remember Bruce Wayne was there with a blonde girl wearing chinchilla fur, a 50s hairdo, and an actual pearl pin. But when my parents... right after, I saw him directing traffic of people out of the tent calmly. His presence then was literally calming, like, everyone was looking at him for direction. This Bruce... generally, looked too nervous on everything; if that makes sense."

Jason thought a moment. Dick was really good at reading people's body language - even the most stoic Alfred. Before Bane was removed, Dick's assessment of Alfred was that he was uncomfortable with Bane, yet very welcoming of Damian. Thus his immediate trust in Alfred. However, since Bane was arrested and proven to not have been a Wayne; Jason hasn't got the chance to ask Dick to re-assess Alfred.

"Okay, I'll retrieve the video footage of your dad from 10 years ago from the League's servers. We'll cross-check. We'll tell the Birds once we're sure, yeah?" Jason suggested.

"Agreed," Damian nodded slowly.

"I'll have Tim keeping an eye on the Doc and Missus while we're at it, though. I mean, you know, precautions and all." Dick suggested.

"Okay, call Tim. If he doesn't answer, call Babs or his mom. I'd like this whole thing settled quickly before Bruce can do anything to harm Damian." Jason huffed a breath slowly, wondering what the hell is it with the Waynes that seemed to run on endless conspiracy theories, anyway.

[kairos-polaris]

Eris(Demon’s daughter)

Demon's head daughter couldn't be anything other than perfect. She must master every martial art. Her education must be flawless. Failure is not a choice. Even the smallest mistake is a disgrace.

Marinette knew it. That’s why spent hours and hours training and perfectimg her form. But something was lacking and she craved to find it.

Chapter 2, 3, 4, 5

On the far east, high up in the mountains is a city, Nanda Parbat. There hides and lives Ra's al Ghul, the demon's head. 

The walls in Nanda Parbat have no warmth. They're permanently soaked in blood and death. At night you can hear the anguish screams of the long dead. 

In a small room without windows lives a girl with eyes as blue as sapphires and hair as black as night. Dark skin makes pale scars visible. 

The only welcome visitor is the girl's sister. She will tend to the girl's wounds and help her prepare for sleep. 

"You must be more careful, Marinette." Berated her Talia. "Your training will grow harder with time. You must be ready for this, ya albi. I can't lose you."

"Why do we have to train so hard?" 

"Father has a lot of enemies. We must know how to protect ourselves," Talia answers softly. 

"The League doesn't condone uselessness and everyone must reach a certain standard. It's even higher for us because of our father. And I am sure you enjoy a part of your training, don't you?"

"Yes, I enjoyed training with Lady Shiva. She taught me how to use a war fan. Dansen uchiwa* is my favorite, but mubuchae is nice, too." At her sister's questioning look she continued: It protects my arm and I can use it to dodge attacks. Then I will stab the attacker using balisong**. .. And I can also.." the next fifteen minutes were spent discussing different ways of using war fans and daggers. They briefly touched on the subject of Japanese martial arts and weapon making.

"...and that's why I prefer straight blades." Talia stopped talking and looked at Marinette. The girl was staring at the wall. 

"Why can't we just leave?" Marinette suddenly spoke. "We would go everywhere and stay nowhere. You could pose as my guardian. If anyone asked about parents, we would give them a sob story about their death." The brief training with Lady Shiva made the walls in Nanda Parbat feel more suffocating than before.

"Oh, ya albi, you know that's impossible. Father would track us down immediately. He has ears and eyes everywhere." Talia chuckled bitterly. Somehow her answer made Mari more enthusiastic. 

"But you want to run away! That's what matters! One day we will bribe Nyssa and she will help us. And we won't have to live under our father's tumb." 

Talia just hugged her sister. Getting out of the League of Shadows was impossible for them. Especially for them. She could only pray that Marinette would be happy one day.

***

Eight-year-old Marinette understood it the day she failed for the first time. She stood there, before her father, waiting for his verdict. The small voice in her head whispered how it wasn’t her fault, that even famous designers don’t have this much security as Gabriel Agreste does. “I should have been prepared for everything. This failure will be my lesson if I survive this,” she thought bitterly.

Demon's head daughter couldn't be anything other than perfect. She must master every martial art. Her education must be flawless. Failure is not a choice. Even the smallest mistake is a disgrace.

Demon's head daughter isn't a child, she's a weapon. A perfectly sharpened dagger.

"You failed me, Marinette. Not only you didn’t kill that man, but you were caught and Talia had to save you. As your master, I’m furious, as your father, I’m disappointed.”

The cold stone hurt her knees and her ears burnt from embarrassment. His words were sharper than the sharpest knife. That’s why he is called Demon’s Head after all.   

“I’m sorry, father. It won’t happen again. I..” Marinette tried her best not to falter under Ra’s’ glare.   “I don’t remember giving you permission to speak.” His words left goosebumps on her skin and Marinette had to bite her tongue to stay silent. “Your actions will have consequences, so be prepared for your punishment. Do you understand me?”

“Yes, father,” she answered softly, but Ra’s seemed satisfied and dismissed Marinette to her room. She left as fast as possible.In her room, she would think about the nature of punishment and try to be prepared. Hey, how does one prepare for their death?

Marinette was sure Ra’s wouldn’t let her walk away without proper punishment, but she decided to humor her sister.

***

After that Marinette had to spend even more time training and studying. Talia was happy to hear that. “Ya albi, if you continue training, you won’t fail again. You were lucky father decided to pardon you.”

Marinette spent a lot of time practicing with her blades and darts. War fans slowly became her weapon of choice. You can hide it. You can show off with it. There are multiple ways of using it making it perfect for Marinette.

Unfortunately, Marinette never used sharp tessen during practice. Later, Marinette would regret it, because fighting ten trained and armed assassins with two fans wasn’t her definition of fun.

Scratch it. It was hell. Given the number of attacks, she could avoid them only for so long. She couldn’t take out her daggers.

Swish. Kick. Jump. Repeat.

Marinette slowly rose from the water. The first thing she noticed was the absence of scars. "How many new scars will litter my skin before I die again?" She wondered silently.

Marinette was skilled, but so were the assassins. And it still took them an hour to take her down. “At least I managed to injure them, too.”    

***

Waking up in Lazarus' Pits wasn't something she wanted to repeat ever again. The water felt gross on her skin and the smell made her want to throw up.

Another prominent difference was anxiety she could feel in her bones. She craved to do something, to the blood of her killers on her hands, to feel how life leaves their bodies. A whisper in her head sung how glorious it would feel to get her revenge.

"It's not punishment when I feel so high and mighty, father. It's a gift I will treasure." With these words Marinette dug her nails into her arm, leaving small marks. The skin felt too clean for her.

“Marinette,” he greeted her. “I see you’re feeling better now. What is the reason behind your visit?”

In this state, Marinette didn't notice her sister entered. Talia stood there watching the last bits of Marinette's innocence fly to hell. It was the point of no return.

***

Ra’s was sitting in his room when he felt movement behind him.

Marinette tilted her head and slowly answered; “I wanted to ask your permission to return the favor.”

“You can do whatever you want to them. Just leave them alive. But you were very effective at taking them down, so three of them can’t stand.” This was the closest thing to praise she could ever hear from Ra’s al Ghul.

One time Talia gave her a book with Greek myths. It soon became her favorite book. She loved the stories about gods, and heroes, and monsters. The heroes knew when to kill and when to spare someone. Marinette could admire this.

“Thank you, father.” With a small nod, she left to enact her revenge. If there were more screams than usual, nobody paid attention to it.  

***

Reading was a great way to escape reality. Books told her about different worlds and people. Unfortunately, Ra’s had to approve every book given to her. Only for very significant achievement could she read something other than textbooks.

“I just don’t understand what you see in that fury! His enemies constantly escape Arkham and he still won’t kill them. His negligence hurts other people and they still call him a hero! Father respects him, too!” it wasn’t a common occurrence for them to argue about Batman, but Marinette was just too annoyed with Talia’s pinning.

“Bruce impressed our father with his skills and devotion to a cause. Bruce is hopeful. He believes everyone can change and be a better version of themselves. We know that’s not true and some people will never change.”

Marinette wasn’t impressed. “I know some people can’t change. We work with some of them.” Talia just laughed at her expression..

“One day you will fall in love. That day you will understand me.”

“Ew, disgusting. I will never, ever fall in love. Especially not with a hero. I’m sure of it.”  Talia just shook her head fondly. Her little sister still has so much to learn.

“And where will you go, Marinette?” Asked Talia. Marinette spared her a glance noting bags under her eyes and multiple cuts.

***

Eleven-year-old Marinette had an agency. She had a goal. She knew what she wanted to do.

“Gotham. I will tell Batman everything I know about the Light. But don’t think I do it to help him. I want to destroy everything for our father.” She threw a suitcase with much more force than needed.

“Why now? You seemed so eager to please him.”

“Pits did something with my brain and changed my memories about The fight. I thought it was their own decision. With this knowledge I asked father for permission to avenge myself. My overall perception of him changed.”

“And now you are angry. But you shouldn’t run away like this. Batman won’t trust you. He will think you are a double agent sent by the League.” Marinette just grinned at that.

“I will give B information and leave immediately. I’m going to travel the world. I have money and I can take care of myself.” Talia sighed and took Marinete’s face in her hands.

“I know I can’t change your mind, but please be safe, ya albi.” She whispered softly.

“Thank you, Tals.”

“You are more important to me than our father.”

[gimmeromance]

Ask from a user who wants to remain anonymous:

(anonymous, thanks!)

I. am. so. tired. of so many romance novels reusing the same jobs/careers over and over. Can you recommend a romance where at least one of the leads has a unique job?

It absolutely can be frustrating to read the same careers over and over and over again. I mean there are actual categories featuring billionaires (businessmen), Sports Players, Policeman/Fireman, Law Enforcement, Military, Doctors/Medical Personnel, Celebrities, Politicians, Musicians, teachers/educators, thief/mafia/criminals, and lawyers. We’re also expanding this to take out things like assistants, governesses, students, authors, courtesan/prostitute/brothel owner, chefs, food service, milliners (historical only), ship captain (historical), gambling hell/casino owners (historical), servants (historical), bakers, pirates, royalty/nobility, cowboys, farmers, and ranchers.  So here’s some romances where one or more leads has a “unique” career.

Also for the sake of our sanity, we’re limiting this to Contemporary and Historical and not YA. LOL

Contemporary

The Agent by Nancy Herkness - M/F, Open Door, Billionaire Romance, Romantic Suspense (she owns a hair salon and runs a safe haven for battered women) (trigger warning: stalking, trigger warning: domestic abuse)

Always for You by Tawdra Kandle - M/F, Open Door, Friends to Lovers, Small Town Romance, Office Romance (they’re both veterinarians)

The Brown Sisters Series by Talia Hibbert - M/F, Open Door, Interracial Romance, Plus-Sized Heroine Book One: Get a Life, Chloe Brown - Disabled Romance (she’s a website developer, he’s an apartment manager) (trigger warning: domestic abuse, trigger warning: ableism) Book Two: Take a Hint, Dani Brown - Bisexual Romance, Muslim Hero, Pagan Heroine (he’s a security guard) (trigger warning: family death) (positive mental illness portrayal) Book Three: Act Your Age, Eve Brown - Autistic Leads (he’s a bed & breakfast owner) (trigger warning: anxiety, trigger warning: ableism)

Beg, Borrow, or Steal by Susie Tate - M/F, Closed Door, Medical Romance, Age Gap, Teacher/Student (she’s a stripper)

On Pointe by Shelly Ellis - M/F, Open Door, Office Romance (she runs the ballet studio, he teaches hip hop dance there)

A Spoonful of Spice by Liwen Y. Ho - M/F, No Sex, Office Romance (they both work in IT)

Vic’s Tasty Treat by Christina Rose Andrews - M/F, Open Door, Holiday Romance, Interracial Romance, Older Woman/Younger Man (she’s an app developer)

Dirty Sweet Wild by Julie Kriss - M/F, Open Door, Billionaire Romance, Disabled Romance (she’s a stripper) (positive mental illness portrayal)

Knowing His Secret by KC Falls - M/F, Open Door, Billionaire Romance (she’s a summer theater director)

Her Fake Island Wedding by Caitlyn Lynch - M/F, Open Door, Vacation Romance, Fake Relationship (she’s a marine biologist, he's a dive instructor)

Loving Maddie from A to Z by Kelly Jamieson - M/M/F, Open Door, Friends to Lovers, BDSM (one of the men is a photojournalist)

A Very English Christmas by Keira Andrews - M/M, Open Door, Holiday Romance, Amish Romance (they construct handmade furniture)

Constant Craving by Tamara Lush - M/F, Open Door, Second Chance Romance, Interracial Romance, Billionaire Romance (she’s a newspaper editor)

Royal Baby Maker by Nora Flite - M/F, Open Door, Royalty Romance (she’s a dog walker)

Deep Blue by Kristy McCaffrey - M/F, Open Door (she’s a marine biologist, he’s an underwater filmmaker)

Unwrapping Jade by Melanie Shawn - M/F, Open Door, Second Chance Romance (he started a business training service dogs for veterans with PTSD) (trigger warning: miscarriage)

Second to None by Nancy Herkness - M/F, Open Door, Billionaire Romance, Second Chance Romance (she runs an animal shelter)

Manhunt by Ann Voss Peterson - M/F, Open Door, Romantic Suspense (she’s an accountant)

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade - M/F, Open Door, Plus-Sized Heroine, Neurodivergent Characters, Dyslexia Representation (she’s an environmental scientist/soil tester) (trigger warning: ableism, trigger warning: fatphobia)

Accepting Fate by Deanna Chase - M/F, Open Door, Soulmates (she works in an art gallery)

One Shade of Gray by Monica Corwin - M/F, Open Door, Age Gap, Kind of Paranormal (she’s a theater producer) (positive mental illness portrayal)

Just Another Silly Love Song by Rich Amooi - M/F, Open Door, Romantic Comedy, Middle-Aged Romance, Enemies to Lovers (they are rival radio show hosts forced to work together)

Historical

Heiress in Red Silk by Madeline Hunter - M/F, Open Door, Regency Romance (he’s an inventor)

The Rakess by Scarlett Peckham - M/F, Open Door, Regency Romance (he’s an architect) (trigger warning: lots of them)

A Duke in Time by Janna MacGregor - M/F, Open Door, Regency Romance (she owns a linen shop, he runs a charity that refinishes and constructs furniture) (trigger warning: bigamy) (in pre-release: comes out 6/29/2021)

The Pirate and I by Katharine Ashe - M/F, Open Door, Regency Romance, Romantic Suspense (she’s a perfumer, he’s a book seller/binder/appraiser) (trigger warning: child abuse, trigger warning: petnapping)

Heiress for Hire by Madeline Hunter - M/F, Open Door, Regency Romance (she’s a historical private investigator) (trigger warning: domestic abuse)

Come Home to Me - M/F, Open Door, Time Travel Romance, Western Romance (he’s a wagon train guide)

The Mesmerist by Pam McCutcheon - M/F, Open Door, Time Travel Romance, Victorian Romance (he’s a hypnotist/mesmerist)

The Embroidered Spoon by Jayne Davis - M/F,  No Sex, Historical Romance, Regency Romance, (He’s a Wool Factory owner)

*These suggestions are not endorsements. Please read the description and the reviews to decide whether you want to read the books!

[dessarious]

The Angel of Death Pt28

Inspired by this Story Starter by @someone-ev

AO3   Prologue   Beginning   Previous   Next

“Of course I do Nooroo, but it’s dangerous for you to come with me. After this mess there’s likely to be others coming after me until I kill enough of them to make them stop. Not to mention the organization that trained me was under the impression that I was dead and one of them, at least, is going to recognize the way I fight.” Tris glared at Fu the entire time she was speaking. None of this would have happened if he had just talked to her rather than running off to try and get himself killed. She was too focused on him and didn’t notice a string connected to Adrien move until it was too late.

“So you’re the one who murdered my husband.” She was mentally cursing in every language she knew as a woman, obviously wielding Duusu’s Miraculous, stepped out of the shadows. She’d given the box to Chloe for safe keeping, not so she could just hand Miraculous out to everyone she knew. At this point she half expected Luka and Kagami to show up in costume. Granted it was nice to know that the strings weren’t at all impacted by the Miraculous, at least not to her.

“I am.” Tris couldn’t tell by the woman’s tone if she was upset by that fact or not, but she wasn’t about to back down now. She did what was necessary, and she’d do it again.

“She’s also the one that fixed Duusu’s Miraculous and saved you.” Nooroo was floating protectively in front of her glaring at everyone indiscriminately. She wasn’t certain why the Kwami had decided she was his to guard but he’d been incredibly overprotective since the night she’d rescued him. Chat Noir went over to whisper in the woman’s ear and her expression went from confused to shocked. Great, just what she needed, one more person knowing how old she was. She’d gone three years with no one finding out and now there was absolutely no hope of ever keeping it underwraps. There were going to be assassins coming at her left and right to prove they’re better than her. Because her life wasn’t screwed up enough as it was.

“This is really not the place for this conversation. I was live streaming the fight, or rather massacre, to try and stop the rumors now going around that I’m an inept child thanks to someone telling these idiots information I foolishly divulged.” Fu just looked at her calmly, no sign of guilt or remorse. She was seconds away from stabbing him just to let out frustrations and he didn’t seem to sense the danger. She really shouldn’t be surprised. “So if everyone is going to insist on lecturing me before I disappear I suggest we go elsewhere.” She would just leave but knowing Chloe especially, someone would try to come after her and that would just get them killed.

The Miraculous holders looked confused more than anything else. Wonder Woman was frowning at her the same way all her teachers did when she corrected their misinformation. She couldn’t wait for whatever was going to come out of her. Fu looked disappointed, it was a look she was used to getting from Talia to be honest. Her Nonna though… she looked smug? No that wasn’t it. Proud maybe? It had been so long since anyone had looked at her like that she honestly wasn’t sure.

“Lead on then.” She took the cue from Gina and headed back out the side entrance assuming the others would follow. She was honestly hoping they didn’t but there was no way she’d get that lucky. She ended up leading them to the warehouse she’d used to meet Fu at. It seemed appropriate and even if everyone else seemed willing to divulge their identities and secrets she wasn’t going to help them. She was tempted to take them back to Fu’s shop just to get back at him, but the Kwami would be in more danger if she did that. When they got there the others detransformed and it took everything in her not to yell at them for their lack of caution. Plagg, Tikki, and Duusu all immediately rushed her to cling onto her.

“You can’t just leave.”

“You can’t just leave me here with them! I haven’t had this much fun in centuries.”

“Even if you do leave the Miraculous will still be in danger since people will come after Fu to find you. We must make a plan before anything else.” Duusu’s plea and Plagg’s insulted tone didn’t carry near the weight of Tikki’s reason. The Kwami of creation had a point and she really did need to figure out how to keep them all safe. Fu she couldn’t care less about but the Kwami needed to be protected.

“And you’re all just okay with the fact that she makes a living killing people?” Wonder Woman sounded somewhere between insulted and confused by the Kwami’s behavior though she had no idea why.

“My fairy only goes after those that need to be killed. Men and women who destroy innocent lives for no reason other than power and greed. She’s doing the world a favor and you should all be thanking her for it.” Yep, definitely pride. It was so weird to hear that directed at her.

“You’re the new roommate that Adrien was telling me about. The one with no social skills that’s making the faculty cry and have mental breakdowns.” She just shrugged at Mme. Agreste’s comment but Chloe let out a bark of laughter.

“You should have seen her tear apart the history teacher's doctoral thesis. It was a thing of beauty. She’s not allowed near any of the general education teachers now.” She still didn’t understand what the big deal was. He should have been happy she pointed out his mistakes before he actually turned it in.

“You really killed my father?” Adrien’s timid question made her pause. For all Plagg seemed to think he wouldn’t hate her for it, people tended to be rather attached to their family whether they deserved it or not.

“Yes.” He was obviously expecting more of a response but she wasn’t going to make excuses for it. She was hired to do a job and she did it, end of story. Chloe let out a strangled noise.

“You’re an assassin.” Tris just nodded. Wasn’t that already established? “Someone paid you to go after Hawkmoth.” She nodded again finally understanding where she was going with this. “My father hired you didn’t he?”

AO3   Prologue   Beginning   Previous    Next

Ko-Fi

Tag List

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[kimberly-spirits13]

Right Hand Man (Loyal to the End) Pt. 2

Pairing: Damian Wayne x reader

Synopsis: You were like Talia’s daughter. The only thing was that you weren’t and instead, you had grown up in the foster care system and at a young age were taken by and personally trained by Talia. Along the way, you meet Damian and the two of you start to work side by side and eventually, after some time become closer and closer. However, when disaster in the league strikes, you face balancing an old, forgotten life as a normal child and the burden of right hand to the demon heir.

Also, I didn’t want to have Damian so young in this so just go with it. I’m thinking maybe early 15 or almost 16 at the most. Idk I just don’t like writing for young Dami.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2273

Pt. 1

        You walked around the squad that you were assigned to watch over this morning. It was an easy viewing as you picked out each mistake that was made by the fighters. The objective of this time was to make improvements in skills where needed in the time that you were waiting for Damian to arrive for sparing. Now that you were older, the two of you trained outside almost to set an example for the rest of the members in lower ranks. It was almost a shaming method as well. Look at these two teenagers, they are years ahead of you in skill and training.

        A few minutes of this routine had passed. You were getting tired of no action yourself. Damian must have been attending to some private matters since he was never late. Talia made sure of that for one part. Eventually, the mood shifted into something even more serious and focused and you knew that he had entered the training grounds.

        “How kind of you to finally show up.” You said drawing your sword.

        “I had previous arrangements to attend to.” Damian returned taking his own sword in hand.

        “An eventful morning for the demon.”

        “Indeed, it was General.”

        You could tell that there were eyes on you the entire time that the two of you were training. It wasn’t uncommon but for the longest time, it took a while to get used to in the start of this newer training environment. Eventually you did get very accustomed to it and started playing harder. It was important to look like you really had the best training and grasp of what you were doing. Otherwise you were a bigger target. That was something you didn’t want under any circumstances. Damian didn’t mind. Instead, he seemed to like the challenge you presented. It wasn’t often in the field he ever got any sort of action like this. It was pretty typical for take downs to be easy, child’s play really. At least, that’s what he liked to think of it.

        For what started feeling like hours, you and Damian trained along with the rest of the recruits. It was sweltering hot outside. The sun’s heat beat down on everyone there without any sign of stopping. The cloudless sky offered no shelter from the rays either. You finally defeated Damian for the last time. Your fights would go until the other slipped up and then they’d start over until you both new that it was time to leave.

        “You haven’t heard anything about strange happenings or something of concern of late have you?” You asked entering the building.

        “No, I didn’t. Today was a common briefing of training and education. I anticipate you will have a meeting with mother at a later time over the same subjects.” Damian replied as the two of you turned into a different hallway heading to the cafeteria, “Mother was acting strange this morning however. I do not know if it has to do with our shared concerns.”

        You didn’t say anything, instead you just nodded before the two of you entered the giant room that everyone sat and ate in. There were different rooms situated inside for different ranks but mostly everyone sat together. It was difficult to escape the people which was something that was meant to be established but for the top players. They stuck together. That’s another reason why you and Damian were so close.

        “I want you to sit with me today instead of with the other group.” Damian said as the two of you took what you wanted for lunch and walked to where he and his mother always sat and ate. Talia was to be late today because of matters she was handling by herself. You two sat in silence for some time.

        “The recruits seemed ... mostly normal for the decent part of today.” You said, “In other words, there have been no red flags of anything internal. I walked around the entirety of the grounds to check.”

        “Maybe Mother and Grandfather are planning something that will just be sudden.” Damian pondered out loud, “We most likely won’t have to worry about it.”

        “It will probably affect me more than you.” You commented, “I’m pretty certain that you’d be safer when it came to some mass elimination scheme.”

        “You should be confident in your place among the League.”

        “I am, I just know that things can change at the random.” “That’s what makes it exciting around here.” “You know, other than the constant threat of being killed.”

        Damian spared you a smirk at the comment but nothing else. You saw it and knew he understood for some part.

        “Where is your next mission?” He asked.

        “It’s to Italy.” “I should only be gone for two, maybe three days at most.” “It’s basic kill a diplomat here, a politician there kind of mission before you ask.”

        Damian cocked a brow, “How did you know I’d ask?”         “You always do al Ghul.”

        “That is the one part of your training and job that I envy.”

        “And that is?” You asked.

        “You get to go and actually do things outside of the League’s headquarters and fight.” He answered simply.

        “Don’t let your mother hear that.” You chuckled only a bit to yourself.

        It was only in times like these or even just only on the roof tops that you’d ever let yourself crack a smile or make anything close to a joke. It was the only time you’d actually be even a sliver of yourself around someone. That is, whatever of yourself was left from all of these years spent here. You thought that what you did was important. It kept your branch of the League together even. Assigned to watch over Damian and be his right hand, that is what you defined yourself by. It was always position to you. Whether you liked it or not, this wasn’t the place to be friendly or all that different from the rest besides in skill and ruthlessness.

        “We’d better get to our class.” You said breaking the silence that came between you two.

        Damian stood up followed by you and the two of you headed to your tutoring session. It wasn’t long before this was over, in fact today was probably the last you’d see your teacher alive.

_______________________________________________________________________

        The tutor seemed to know just as well as you and Damian that this was their last day probably seeing the light of day. The room that the two of you were seated in was a well- lit room with only a table and large chalk board. You could practically feel the nervous energy that your tutor was radiating today. It got worse and worse every day leading up to it. You almost wanted to feel bad for him but you didn’t. That’s where you sometimes come to question the League. It was always taught in some lessons that it was human nature to be compassionate and not disassociate from others. People were supposed to need and feel for each other. You didn’t though. The League made sure of that very quickly.

        The lesson was quick, you didn’t really care much about what the tutor was saying. It was mainly just an overview of what you and Damian had learned. You two exchanged looks at the end of the session before walking out of the room. Talia was there with another recruit. You knew what the other was there to do when he walked into the room you were just in, you didn’t know however why Talia was there.

        “Y/N, I need to speak with you about your upcoming mission.” She said.

        You nodded goodbye to Damian before leaving with Talia.

        “I trust that your lessons were more than suitable?” She asked.

        “Correct, they were of desirable level.” You replied walking by her side.

        “Good. Now about this mission.” Talia turned a corner and into a room before shutting the door behind you, “This isn’t just another simple mission.” “The diplomats that you’re targeting will have highly trained security teams. You must choose the right moment to strike which I’d like to think you might be able to do from your training. Make sure there is as little of security as possible. After you accomplish stage one, move your squad onto stage two of killing the others and then return as soon as possible.” “Any questions? This should be standard by now.”

        “Understood.” You nodded.

        “In addition, with the success of your past few missions, it has been decided that you will be elevated into a newer status of High General. Still by the same title, you have more tasks and control over your own squads. I do expect that you will handle this well. You start after your mission with the same schedule. However, you will be training more in the middle ranks.”

        “Thank you, I am honored.” You said sincerely before cocking a brow, “However, I must ask since it has been troubling me for the past few days. Is there anything that I should be expecting that will happen? Are there any sweeping of the ranks that I should know about?”

        “I see that you must have picked up on something.” Talia said, “This is confidential information. I am only sharing this with you because of your status and position. There have been concerns raised of an attack from outer forces. We have not figured out which ones yet, you should not concern yourself with that yet. However, the only thing besides your mission and daily tasks you should be concerned with, is the safety of my son, the heir to the League. There is no true telling information on what will happen so keep on your highest guard.”

        “Yes Talia.”

        There was a pause that filled the room. You knew that there was something else.

        “General. That is the position you have been given. That is not however your only job.” Talia started, “Your main, most important job is to be my son’s second hand. If something were to ever happen to myself or The Demon Head, I fully expect you to stay with Damian over everything. Do not make me regret my decision in picking you off the ground of that orphanage.”

        “My loyalties are well placed Talia. I stay with him until death just as I was assigned from the start of this all. As High General, as the Demon’s second, you have my word.”

         Eventually, you left. The rest of the day was ahead of you and tomorrow, you’d be suiting up for Italy. Ready to leave the League even for a mission, you were antsy the rest of the day. Not enough for notice as usual though. Damian knew however. He could tell that your game was a bit off since this morning. He could tell that you were either anticipating more than what you gave off, or you were preparing yourself for this next mission a bit too much.

_______________________________________________________________________

        That night he confronted you as the two of you sat on the rooftop.

        “You were off of your game today Y/N.” Damian said almost catching you off guard.

        “So, I was.”

        “What caused this rarity?”

        “I am just ready to start my mission. I have a brewing feeling that it should go over very well.” You answered, “That is what Talia wanted to discuss with me earlier today.”

        “It was just this and nothing else?” Damian cocked his brow suspiciously.

        “Correct.” You reassured, “There was nothing else besides talk of schooling. She did inform me that I will be taking the High General position which was gratifying.”

        “You have my congratulations Y/N.” He commended.

        “And you have my appreciation Damian.”

        “The only thing that I did pick up from the conversation wasn’t... much. Just keep on your highest guard.”

        You didn’t bother saying anything else. Watching the stars and then the clouds float by every now and again was enough. It was easy to just stay up there and do nothing. There was no schedule besides having to get at least some sleep that night. There were no recruits training out in the heat. And best of all, it was silent and cool outside. This was the best time and always would be a place of your favorite memories from life.

        “So, do you have any plans of changing your squad?” Damian asked.

        “In what way? My squad is perfectly formed. There shouldn’t be any issues within it. Not unless you’re insinuating that you want to join al Ghul.” You smirked.    

        “No, not at all. I’d rather not be taking orders from my right hand.” He shot back.

        “And I’d rather not be giving orders to one of the most stubborn people I know.”

        “Very funny L/N.”

        “Oh, so we’re on last name status. I must have said something to upset the young Demon.” You poked fun at him as you typically did.

        “You’d like to think you could.”

        “Anyways, regarding your question. I will not be adding or eliminating anyone from my squad unless I find someone in the lower ranks more suitable that can and will advance faster. Nevertheless, I am not actively looking for any new blood as some might call it.”

        “I understand.” Damian stood up to leave, “Will I see you before your mission tomorrow?”

        “Most definitely during breakfast. My team and I are leaving for Italy right after that though.” You answered jumping down from the roof top and onto the pavement below before walking inside, and down a hall until you eventually split from Damian to go to your room.

I hope you guys are enjoying this series. I have the series lined up in my schedule to post this time so hopefully it doesn’t just ... die lol. Anyways I hope you’re all having a wonderful day and week and are staying safe and healthy!

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